


Every Story has an Ending

by Crazie_Childe



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Crazy Dumbledore, De-Aged Harry, Good bad side, I Don't Even Know, I'm Bad At Tagging, M/M, Mistakes are all mine, Not Beta Read, OOC characters, Tags Are Hard, What Was I Thinking?, first fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-03
Updated: 2018-04-07
Packaged: 2018-04-12 05:21:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 24
Words: 44,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4466936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crazie_Childe/pseuds/Crazie_Childe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Unexpected things come to light when Harry is de-aged accidentally.</p><p> </p><p>previously known as Red. Black. Grey. Green.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Fifth year Hogwarts student Harry Potter was late. He was late for Potions. Severus Snape was livid. First, the Dark Lord had summoned him, ordering him to brew an impossible potion, to bring back his human looks. The snake-like visage was off-putting even to the Dark Lord himself. Then there was the twinkle-eyed old goat, calling him 'my boy' at the end of every sentence. Well he was not his boy.

And now, now that over pampered brat of a child was late, he did not like tardiness, at all.

Severus was roused from his musings by the door being banged open and the black hair menace tumbling in the room.

"Sorry professor, had to visit the infirmary, Madame Pomphrey insisted. Here is the slip, sir." The boy explained, trying to get his breath back, holding the slip up for Severus to see. Snape took the slip from the boy and motioned him to his seat, beside Neville, who was the only one left without a partner by that time.

Under the guise of keeping the slip on his table, the potions master turned his back to the class, letting his mask drop and breathing in, relieved. The Potter brat was alright, he just seemed to attract trouble wherever he went.

Looking back, Severus could see that easily. That the boy was either thrown in trouble, or trouble came looking for him.

Tuning out his thoughts, he gave the class a potion to brew, the Wit Sharpening Potion. They had already brewed this potion, so it was good for revision.

Leaning back on his table, he looked around the class. All the partners were working together peacefully, for once. It was soothing to his frazzled nerves by being on alert all the time.

Standing up he took a round of the class checking their progress. At the end of the classroom he saw Potter and Longbottom's potion bubbling precariously. Suddenly, everything seemed to slow down, and all Severus could do was to stand and watch.

The potion started to bubble over and Potter pushed Longbottom away, but before he could protect himself, the potion exploded covering the boy head to toe.

It was a small whimper which unlocked Severus' muscles, enabling him to move to help the boy. He caught Potter as he was about to fall to the floor.

"Potter, look at me.", trying to get the boy's attention on him and away from the pain while he siphoned off the potion into few vials for precaution's sake and rest he banished. He felt someone crouching down beside him. "Professor, may I take Potter to the infirmary?", Malfoy said. The Potter boy was whimpering and moaning, it was best to take him to infirmary quickly. He nodded, giving Malfoy space to pick up the injured boy.

Malfoy picked up Potter in bridal style, soothing him with soft shushing noises and speaking to him softly under his breath, saying something which made Potter relax in his hold. And Malfoy left for the infirmary.

Looking towards the class he saw them staring after Malfoy with shock on their faces. "Well then, I expect an essay from each one of you on the properties of each ingredient of the potion we were brewing, by the next class on my desk. Class dismissed." With that he turned to leave for the infirmary, his robes billowing out after him.

He saw that Malfoy had almost reached the infirmary. He called out for Madame Pomphrey as they entered. Malfoy laid down the boy on a bed, setting him down softly and carefully.

Pomphrey gasped as she saw the boy lying on the bed whimpering lowly. She set up a privacy screen to start up her examination. "Severus, I need to know what happened.", she said.

"I had asked them to brew the Wit Sharpening potion in class. And it was not for the first time, it was more of a revision class. Longbottom and Potter managed to blow up their potion. Potter had pushed Longbottom away, but he was unable to cover himself, and the potion ended up on him. How they managed to do that, it baffles me.", Severus summarized. "Severus, please come here.", Pomphrey said softly.

Going behind the privacy screen, Severus saw that the boy lying down on the bed was nothing like the Potter brat he saw everyday. There were dark circles under his eyes, he was thin, almost skin and bones. Severus could count his ribs. What was the most surprising of all was that he looked like a toddler. A thin, sickly toddler. An unbidden gasp left Severus' lips. It brought Malfoy to their side of the screen. The blonde was shocked by what he saw.

How a botched up Wit Strengthening Potion had resulted in de-ageing the Boy-Who-Lived was beyond their comprehension.

"We have to inform the Headmaster.", Pomphrey said.


	2. Chapter 2

Informing the Headmaster went smoother than expected. He was all grandfather-ly about it, taking it all in his stride with eyes twinkling as ever, asking about Potter's health and recovery in general.

What posed as a problem were the two-thirds of the Golden Trio, and that Weasley girl. They had eavesdropped on their conversation in the infirmary and were now screaming at and blaming Severus and Malfoy. They blamed them of doing something to him while they brought Potter to the infirmary, as the boy was fine when he got injured in the classroom.

Their accusations were quashed down by Pomphrey, who informed them that the boy had de-aged when he was in front of her and that only the botched up potion was to blame for what had happened. That had shut up the two red heads and the bushy headed Gryffindor for the moment.

Come to think of it, Severus mused, Granger and Weasley were there in the potions class. Yet they had not come up to help him and his somewhat of a nemesis, Draco had. Was there trouble brewing within the Golden Trio?

Their screaming and shouting had woken up the toddler Harry who now had tears streaming down his face. Scared of the loud noises but making no noise himself, curled up in a ball under the sheets, his shoulders shaking with silent sobs.

Draco being the nearest to the child, was the first to notice.  
"Harry", he said softly, not wanting to startle the child, "are you alright? Why are you crying?"  
Severus heard Draco talking to the boy, he went up to them, leaving the Gryffindor buffoons to be dealt with by the Medi-Witch and the Headmaster.  
The little boy had gone still on hearing Draco's voice. Draco put a hand on Harry's small shoulder, and the boy flinched away from him. Draco looked up towards Severus, a frown on his face. They couldn't understand, why was the boy flinching so? Was he scared of something?  
"Potter", Severus said. "What is wrong? Speak to us child. We are not going to hurt you."

Harry peeked out of the sheets slowly. His eyes darting around, filled with awe and confusion. He looked up at Severus and Draco, his eyes widening before he scrambled up to Severus, clutching at his robes.  
"Sevvie?", the little boy inquired softly. His eyes big and swimming with tears, lower lip trembling. "Sevvie..!!", the boy tugged frantically at Severus' robes.  
The potion master was in shock. The boy knew him? How was it possible? He had never even seen the boy before his first year at Hogwarts. Yet here he was, calling him "Sevvie" of all things. Unless... Lily.  
"Lily..", the name left his lips unbidden.  
"Sevvie!! Mumma no!!", there were fat tears rolling down the boy's cheeks now.

Severus looked at the green orbs, they reminded him so much of his only childhood friend. He bent down and picked Harry up, clutching him close to his chest. The little boy gripped his robes tighter, hiding himself in Severus' chest.

Draco looked on at the man and boy with his eyes wide with shock. What was happening? How did the boy recognise Severus?

There were questions in both Draco and Severus' mind. But they could wait. Right now, getting Harry better was the priority.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hv a few chapters written down.. I'll upload them.. Then the update speed is questionable.. Depends on how soon i can write the next chapters.. Also.. I am undecided on his age.. But little harry will be here for some time.. i don't want to drag it on.. But my muse does what it wants.. Hope you enjoy..
> 
> P. S. It might seem a bit disjointed.. Lets just say my brain is responsible for that.. :P
> 
> Thank you for reading.. :) <3


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for uploading so late. But my muse had deserted me. Hope you like the chapter. :)  
> Sorry for any typos, do tell so I can correct them.

Little Harry was sleeping, and Draco was sitting beside his bed. His mind tumultuous, going over and over the things that had happened. Harry recognising Severus and calling him 'Sevvie' of all things. How was that possible? He was astonished the way Severus had acted when Harry had looked at him imploring him to pick him up. He had never been this indulgent towards anyone but Draco.

Severus was himself floored at the actions of Harry. Sitting in the Headmaster's office, he too was going over the incidents of this morning. He had been taken along with the Headmaster to his office to discuss the matter of Harry and who was to take care of him till the potion's effects wore off or the anti-dote was found. Severus had vials full of the botched potion, and he just wanted to start working on it. As soon as he got the Headmaster to give him the ultimatum of taking care of Harry. He did not want the little boy out of his sight. There was something about the boy that had him befuddled. The most astonishing was how he had recognised him as 'Sevvie'.

"Lemon drop, Severus.", the Headmaster asked.  
"No, Headmaster. I would like to go back to my laboratory as soon as possible. I have other potions pending and classes to attend to."  
"Of course, Severus. I just wanted your opinion on placement of Harry.", the Headmaster said. "Where do you think I should put him? I want the best possible place for him. Where he is safe and happy. What do you think?"  
"I am sure Headmaster, that wherever you decide to place him, it will be beneficial for him. After all he is your golden boy.", he sneered.  
"Well then. I am happy you think so, as I have decided that he shall stay with you.", the Headmaster said, his eyes twinkling merrily.  
Severus was rendered mute with shock, he could not believe what the Headmaster was saying. Harry was to stay with him. That was what he had wanted. Now to act like he was not interested, that has been his forte.  
"With due respect, have you lost your mind Headmaster. The Potter brat, staying with me. I have no patience nor the experience to take care of a toddler. This is preposterous, you cannot expect me to take care of the boy and conduct my classes too!"  
The Headmaster's eyes twinkle away merrily as he replied, "You can Severus, seeing as you need not worry about the classes. I shall ask the Head Girl and Boy to assist you in them. And later on I shall appoint a teacher on temporary basis if needed."  
"I refuse Headmaster, I will not be taking the boy under my care. This is beyond stupid even for you. I do not care for him and it would be better if he is given to someone who can tend to him." Severus was seething by this point, but inside he was content with the way things was going.  
The Headmaster on the other hand was not so content. "Severus, that was not a request but an order. And you know better than to refute my order." His eyes now dangerously blank from emotions.  
That was cue for Severus to simply nod and accept it.  
"Excellent", the Headmaster said, the twinkle now back in his eyes. "You may go now Severus, make preparations to keep Harry in your quarters. Do tell me if you need any help."  
Severus bowed his head silently and turned on his heel, leaving the Headmaster's office in a flurry of robes.  
If anyone saw closely, they would have seen a small twitch on his lips, indicating his happiness for the proceedings.

Draco was still mulling over his thoughts when Severus entered the infirmary heading staright for Harry.  
"How is he doing?" Severus asked, nodding towards the sleeping toddler.  
"He has been sleeping peacefully. No disturbances. What did the Headmaster want?"  
"He wanted me to take Harry under my care till the potion wears off itself or till we find an anti-dote."  
"And, did you accept?"  
"What do you think? He ordered me, I was not allowed to say no."  
"Hmm, what now?"  
"Now, I am going to take care of him and shift him to my quarters. But first, I need you to answer something."  
"Alright. What do you need to know?", Draco was puzzled, but he could imagine what Severus wanted to know.  
"Why did you help Harry? As far as the school knows, you are each other's 'nemesis', so to speak."  
Draco knew this was coming. He looked down at his hands on his lap. Heaving a breath, he said,"No, Uncle. He might have seen me as a nuisance in his life, but for me he was that unattainable friend I had always dreamed about since I was told about him. I had always wanted to be his friend, his confidant." Scoffing at himself, he said. "I had always wanted to be his Weasley."  
Snape hooked his fingers under Draco's chin, lifting his face up. There were tears in Draco's eyes, a few rolled down his cheeks. Severus wiped them away. He smiled at Draco, and said, "Well I need someone to take care of Harry when I cannot. And I know you wont let me down."  
Draco shook his head. "I won't."  
Severus nods to himself. "I hope you know what we have to do now."  
Draco nods his head.

"We have to tell the Dark Lord.", both of them spoke together.


	4. Chapter 4

Tom Marvolo Riddle was sitting in the living room of the Riddle Manor when he saw the particular raven Loki, belonging to one Severus Snape. Tom knew that Severus only used Loki when he wished to convey something of a secretive nature. Tom set his tea cup down and waited for the bird to reach him.  
As Loki settled down on the armrest of the chair, Tom took the scroll tied to his feet, and rolled it open.

Marvolo,

There has been a incident in Hogwarts which Draco and I feel, you need to be informed of. Assuming you will receive this missive by morning I shall proceed as such.  
Yesterday morning, during my potions class for fifth year students of Gryffindor and Slytherin. During said class, Mr. Longbottom and Mr. Potter were paired off to make the day's potion, which was the Wit-Strengthening Potion.  
As expected, Longbottom and Potter's potion became unstable. Before it exploded, Potter had pushed Longbottom away, but could not find cover himself, and was exposed to the potion.  
Draco and I took him to the infirmary, where he de-aged. Upon gaining consciousness he recognised me. We are yet to determine his age. But I can hazard a guess and say that he is no younger than 3 years old, given his speech pattern.  
We both shall gather more information about this till we hear anything from you.

Severus

Tom rolled up the missive and sighed. This certainly could be used in his favour. He looked at Loki staring at him.  
"Wait in the owlery. I shall call for you when needed."  
The raven croaked once and took off.

~~***~~

Harry woke up in the infirmary bed, rubbing his eyes and yawing hugely. Looking around he saw no one was there. Tears welled up in his eyes, he was scared, in an unknown place, and he had seen Sevvie, or was it a dream. He was not sure.  
"Sevvie!", he called out timidly, scared to infer anyone's wrath at speaking without being asked to.  
The door to the infirmary opened up and Draco entered. He saw Harry jump under the sheets hiding himself and curling into a ball. He quietly went up to him, and softly called out, "Harry. Are you alright? Do you need anything?"  
Harry peeked out of the cocoon of sheets, his hair dishevelled and green eyes tear filled. "Sevvie where?", he asked Draco quietly.  
Draco couldn't help but smile at the little boy hiding amongst his sheets. "He went out for some work. He will be back any time now. Can I help you in any way?"  
Harry shook his head slowly and pulled the sheets back up.  
Draco could understand why Harry was acting so. "My name is Draco, can I be your friend Harry?"  
Harry peeked out once more, looking at Draco with a gleam of hope in his eyes. "Weally?", he whispered, "You want to be my friend?"  
Draco felt his heart constrict at such a hopeful and scared question. He never knew how had Harry really been all these years, he only got to rile him up to get any reaction. Maybe now he was seeing a different unadulterated side of him which no one had seen. He smiled at Harry and said, "Yes, really."  
Harry sat up slowly on the bed, a hint of insecurity in him, scared that this was all a joke. He looked around waiting for someone to come out and laugh at him. When no one did he looked at Draco.  
And Draco was unprepared for the bundle of joy that jumped on to him and wrapped his arms and legs around him. Draco held Harry back as tight as he could, smiling so wide, he felt his cheeks hurting, his eyes teared up. Harry was rubbing his face along Draco's shoulder, not loosening his grip even an inch. He leaned back, looking Draco in the eye, "Thank you.", he whispered and shoved his face in Draco's neck. Snuffling quietly like a kitten or pup would. Draco held him securely and sat down on the bed.

At that moment Severus entered the infirmary. Harry saw him and squealed excitedly, making grabby hands at Severus from Draco's lap, "Sevvie!! Up, up, up!!", now bouncing. Severus' lips twitched slightly in semblance of a smile. He picked Harry up and snuggled him close, not that he would ever accept that he did.  
"Sevvie, made new friend, Dray!!", the little boy exclaimed, and looked at Severus, his eyes shining with happiness.  
"Is that so?", Severus asked.  
"Mhm.", Harry nodded, then turning to Draco gave him a toothy smile. Wriggling in Severus' arms he slid down and went up to Draco and raised his arms up towards him, looking at him with wide green eyes, and boy were those some puppy eyes.  
Draco chuckled and picked him up setting the boy on his hip. Harry set his head on Draco's shoulder. "M hungry, Sevvie.", Harry said.  
"Bezo.", Severus called out. A house elf appeared with a pop. "Master be calling Bezo.", it said in a deep gravelly voice.  
"We need breakfast for three people and one of the plates should hold child friendly food.", Severus said.  
The house elf bowed and popped away. All the while, Harry was looking at the house elf with curiosity. "Dray, what that?", he asked intrigued.  
"That was a house elf Harry, they work for us, clean for us, cook for us."  
"Oh. Then I be house elf too?", Harry asked.  
"Why do you ask that Harry?"  
"I cook 'n clean too. Aunt says it my duty.", Harry mumbled.  
"Oh Harry no. You are not a house elf, you are a human, better yet you are a wizard, you can do magic."  
Harry clamped his hands on Draco's mouth. "No Dray! Bad word!" His eyes filled up with tears and he trembled in Draco's arms, looking around, scared.  
"Why is it a bad word Harry?", Severus asked him softly, he was worried he would hear what he didn't want to.  
"Uncle says it bad. He shut me in cupboard if I speak it. I no want Dray to go in cupboard.", Harry replied, hand still clamped on Draco's mouth, tears now rolling down his cheeks.  
Draco pulled his hands away. "Heyyyy. Its alright Harry. No one will shut me up in a cupboard. I'll stay with you and Severus, alright? No on will hurt me or you. I promise."  
Harry shoved his face in Draco's neck and sniffled, nodding in a jerky motion.  
By this time, Bezo had laid down the breakfast on a nearby table.  
Draco took Harry's plate, which contained a piece of buttered toast and some sliced up fruits. He picked up a sliced piece of banana and offered it to the boy still hiding his face in Draco's neck. The boy accepted the piece and slowly came out of his hiding place. Severus' face was relaxed and his eyes had a shine which looked as if he was smiling.  
"You eat too.", Harry said to both of them.  
And they couldnt refuse him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My characters will do random acts of fluff and mush. They are totally different from the given moulds I have read or seen.  
> Harry is not abused here physically. Its more of a mental aspect. He is touch starved and love starved.  
> I hope it was a good read. Hope you enjoyed. Give me your reviews through comments and kudos.. :)  
> Love loads.. XOXO


	5. Chapter 5

Severus,

Bring the parties affected to my safe house. You know where it is. We will discus what is to be done, when we meet.

Marvolo

~~***~~

It was the weekend, that played in Severus' favour. He could take Harry out by reason of getting him clothes and other necessities and such. He just needed the Headmaster to ask him to do that, but how?

Pondering on this he went down to his chambers, which now housed Harry too. There was a separate room for him. The boy had been very excitable when he had learned he was to stay in the castle and with 'Sevvie' at that, in a room of his own. Staying with 'Sevvie' took all the shine the boy wanted. He had wanted for nothing when asked if he needed anything to decorate his room with. He was happy with the simple room he got, with a bed and cupboard and a window through which he could see the Black lake.

At that moment, Draco was with Harry, entertaining the boy with conjured up toys. They would have to get him a few of his own, he thought. Severus would probably take him today or tomorrow, seeing as it was the weekend. The door to Severus' office opened as Severus himself entered, deep in thought. Harry went barrelling towards him, clinging to his leg and smiling toothily up at him. Draco would never get used to that, seeing Harry Potter cling to Severus Snape.

"Hello Harry. Enjoying yourself?", Severus asked, his mind diverted for the moment by seeing the brilliant smile on the little boy's face.  
"Mhm. Dray made toys. Magic is fun Sevvie. I wanna do magic too."  
"You can do magic when you are eleven years old.", Severus then frowned. "You never told me how old you are Harry."  
"I'm 5 Severus.", Harry said showing him an open hand with his thumb and fingers outstretched.  
That was shocking. The boy was 5 years old! He looked younger than he was. Anger stole through Severus, those blasted relatives of his, did they not even feed him or send him to primary school, he thought.  
Harry 's whimper brought him out of the haze of anger. He was looking at Severus with a scared expression. Severus cleared his expression and crouched down, gathering Harry in his arms and sitting down on the floor.  
"I am not angry with you Harry. Don't be afraid."  
Harry said nothing and clutched at Severus' robes tightly, hiding his face in said robes. Severus hugged him close.  
"Harry? Did your relatives not send you to school?", Draco asked. Harry shook his head, not wanting to speak. Draco did not want to continue, but he had to know, if what he thought was true or not. "Harry, did they starve you? Not give you meals?", he asked again softly. Harry nods this time, and Severus looks up towards Draco, anger barely contained, as he almost squished Harry to himself.  
How the boy was so loving and so caring, his nature so gentle, this confounded them. But they would take care of him now.  
Clearing his throat and taking a deep breath, Severus regained his composure.  
"How would you like to go shopping Harry? And when we are out, we may go meet an acquaintance of mine who wants to meet you too. Would you like that?", he asked, hid dulcet tone not giving way to his anger.  
Harry looked up at him, eyes half covered by his fringe, and nod his head in acceptance, still feeling timid and shaky.  
Severus stood up with him, and then deposited him on the sofa. "You wait here for me with Draco. I'll be right back, I need to get permission from the Headmaster.  
Seeing how important it was to get Harry out of here and get him clothes and other necessities, Severus dropped the idea of making the Headmaster ask him to do so, and thought he would himself take the initiative and maybe act reluctant to make it believable.

~~***~~

Draco was to accompany Severus on this trip. He had made it clear to the Headmaster, that if he had to take someone with him, it would be no one other than him. And so it was finalised.  
Harry had gained some of his spirits back by the time they headed towards the school gates, hidden from the students milling about, looking around the castle in awe, holding both Draco and Severus' hands as they walked by.  
Severus picked Harry up and prepared to apparate.  
"Now Harry, take a deep breath and hold on to me tight.", he said as Draco held on to his arm. Then he apparated the three of them at the apparition point of Diagon Alley. Harry appeared to be a bit green around the gills as they appeared. But Severus soothed him down as they stood a bit away from the apparition point before someone should apparate on top of them. Harry felt better in moments with Severus helping him along.  
Moving along quickly, they first went to the Gringotts Bank. Severus wanted to get Harry tested for everything, inheritances to magical blocks and others that could be thought of, and to withdraw some amount of money for the day's shopping, of course.

Severus put Harry down safely as they entered the bank and tugged him along towards the Head goblin.  
"Good noon Silverfang. We are here to do extensive tests on my ward. I am under the impression there is something wrong going on with his magic.", Severus spoke softly to the goblin.  
"Ah, Harry Potter. knew you would be visiting us soon. The gold never lies. This way gentlemen, follow me.", the goblin replied, his voice raspy like two stones rubbing against each other.  
The party of three followed him to the Bank Manager's office where the goblin knocked and entered, leaving them outside for a moment before ushering them in.

The Bank Manager, Shieldback, stared at them through his beady eyes, as he motioned them to take a seat. "I belive you asked for a total ritual cleanse for the little boy here, Mr. Snape?", he said in his wheezy voice.  
"Yes."  
"And pray tell, why?"  
"I have reasons to belive that the boy may have magical blocks on his core, or something similar and dangerous in nature."  
"And what are these reasons, if I may ask?"  
"Albus Dumbledore."  
"Indeed." A sharp glint entered the goblin's eyes, on hearing the name. " And we are to believe this boy is Harry Potter?"  
"Yes."  
"You do understand if we ask for blood tests, given that he should be of 15 years of age and not so small."  
"Yes I do understand. I would like him to get an Inheritance test too along with it, if its not too much of a trouble?"  
The goblin quirked up an eyebrow and said, "Very well. We shall perform the Inheritance test only, it will be sufficient."

All the while, Draco was confused, why would Severus get an Inheritance test done on Harry? And Harry was still reeling. All this was so new for him, he was excited and scared at the same time. But he trusted Sevvie.

Shieldback took out a piece of parchment, a small dagger and a potion which he then set on top of the table.  
"We'll need 7 drops of the boys blood in this potion, after which we will pour it over this parchment and it will show his Inheritance.", he explained, sharp black eyes looking at the three sitting in front of him.  
Severus took Harry's hand and pierced the tip of his finger, adding 7 drops to the potion then healing up the cut. The goblin poured the potion on the parchment.

Slowly, a loopy, curved writing started appearing on the parchment.

Name - Hadrian James Potter-Black

Father - James Potter

Mother - Lily Potter

Godfather(s) - Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Sverus Snape

Godmother(s) - Alice Longbottom and Andromeda Tonks

Magical Core Color Level - White Gold

Magical Abilities - Parseltongue and Animagi

Lord of -  
Ancient and Noble House of Potter  
Ancient and Noble House of Evanström  
Ancient and Noble House of Peverell  
Most Ancient Noble and Revered House of Gryffindor  
Most Ancient Noble and Revered House of Ravenclaw  
Most Ancient Noble and Revered House of Hufflepuff  
Most Worshipped House of Emrys  
Most Worshipped House of LeFay

Heir of-  
Most Ancient and Noble House of Black  
Most Ancient Noble and Revered House of Slytherin

 

To say that they were stunned, was an understatement. Draco looked at the parchment with his eyes wide as saucers. Severus was speechless. Shieldback could not understand how it was possible that they did not know of this.  
"Isn't this something.", the goblin said, looking at the boy in Severus' lap who held so much power, which he knew nothing of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Show me your love through kudos and comments. <3  
> P. S. The update speed is erratic at best.  
> P. P. S. I'm making this all up as I go. Bear with me.
> 
> * jazz hands*  
> * dances off in the horizon*


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> $"..."$  
> This is animal speak.. Whoops i gave you a hint.. :P  
> enjoy though.. ^.^

Shieldback was sitting back in his chair, staring intently at the de-aged Boy-Who-Lived, who sat serenely in Severus Snape's lap. The boy would need people he could rely on, who would be there for him truly, if he was to survive the burden of the powers he held. Shieldback could see an intelligent gleam in the boy's eyes. He knew there was something different about him, but they needed to unbound his magic for that. There was more to come. He just felt it in his bones.

"Well, I presume your request for purification rites still stand?", he asked, raising an inquisitive eyebrow.  
Severus nods in acquiescence.  
"Very well. Follow me gentlemen. We are in for a long day."

~~***~~

The day indeed had felt long, it was afternoon by the time Harry was released by the goblin rite masters and healers. The boy had undergone a total purification rite, everything had been cleansed, but the trademark lightning bolt scar was persistent, and the scans showed no results. So he was left under the care of Severus and Draco with specific instructions of bringing him right back in case the scar acted up, anytime, day or night. The fees for the rites had been rejected by Shieldback, saying that he saw the boy to be repaying them in a greater way in the future, if set on the right path. He said so, with a strange glint in his eye. And Severus couldn't shake it off for the rest of the day.

Harry on the other hand felt light, both in body and soul. He had never felt so good ever in his life. He was a ball of energy, looking around in awe, wriggling like an over eager pup, giving Draco a rather hard time in holding on to him. Severus was distracted from his musings by his loud squeal. Looking over he saw Harry almost vaulting off of Draco's shoulder in his attempts to catch a glimpse of what's inside the shops, enthralled by it all.

Severus picked up Harry from Draco's arms and settled him in his embrace, facing himself.  
"Sevvie! Shop, shop, shop!", the little boy cried in delight, eyes ablaze with happiness.  
"Does our little bubba wants to go shopping?", he asked, tickling Harry softly under his chin. Harry giggled, trying to catch his fingers and nods happily.  
"Well then, we shall do what you say. Let's go get your clothes done away with, so we can pick up other necessities while they are prepared."  
Harry clapped joyously, ready for the day's adventure. They entered Twillfit and Tattings, to get Harry robes for more formal occasions and a few casual ones too. They would need to go to the Muggle London for other clothes. The wizards could never get the casual Muggle look quite right, seeing what with all repulsion towards their whole existence and what not.  
A thought for getting Harry a familiar entered his mind. Deeming it a good idea, he thought of going to the Magical Menagerie next, before they headed down to Muggle London.  
The robes apparently wouldn't take much time as the weavers imbued the cloth itself in protective spells and potions, which Severus had intended to be done afterwards.  
The robes were paid for half in advance by pressing to the bill parchment, along with Harry's hand, who looked at the glowing key and his hand in avid fascination.  
Severus then turned towards the pet shop, handing over the boy to Draco for the moment, as he perused the cages for a suitable familiar for him.  
Harry on the other hand, tired of being handed back and forth, wriggled out of Draco's arms and calmly walked with his hand wrapped up in Draco's, his curious gaze looking at the magical creatures in the cages.

$"So hungry..food..need food.."$  
A weird voice reached Harry, who looked around trying to see who was speaking. He let go of Draco's hand, rushing to the back of the shop, as fast as his tiny legs could carry him. But Draco and Severus caught up with him, hoisting him up into his arms, Severus looked at Harry, his scowl in place. Though Harry was not to be deterred.  
"Sevvie! Someone hurt Sevvie! Its calling out, Sevvie we help. Pwease Sevvie, it need food.", Harry was near tears by this time jumping and wriggling in Severus' arms.  
"Where Harry? And why can't I hear it?"  
"At the Back , Sevvie. I no lie. I hear it. Pwease!!", Harry had tears rolling down his cheeks now, the bubbly, curious boy suddenly disappearing.

Heaving a sigh, remembering the boy's talent of Parseltongue, Severus shushed the boy as he walked towards the back, the light getting poorer as they reached the farthest of the cages.  
$"Who is there? Do you bring food?"$  
Again there was the voice, and again Harry squirmed to be set down. Severus understanding what was happening, he did so promptly and saw the boy walking to a medium sized cage and looking in with eyes full of wonder but hurt too.

"Hello, you hurt? You want food? Sevvie, we need food here pwease. Kitty is hungry."  
$"Child, have you came to take us with you?"$  
Harry looked into the cage. "I dunno, I hafta ask Sevvie.", he turned back to Severus, "Sevvie can we take kitty wiff us, pwease? It hungry here."

Severus looked at the child, baffled. 'Kitty'?? The child was full of surprises today. First his inheritance and now this. He walked up to the cage where the boy was standing, and crouched down to take a better look at the creature inside the cage. What he saw, definitely shocked him speechless.  
Inside the cage was a chimera, not one but two of them. One was apparently the 'kitty' Harry was talking about and the other was somewhat like a bird in shape, but he could not see it due to the dim light. He took the cage off the shelf and went towards the front of the shop where the light was better.  
Here he could see the two chimeras properly. The 'kitty' looked like a miniature gryffin with emerald green eyes, and the bird was not exactly a bird but a miniature dragon with black scales with silver scales on its belly, ruby red eyes and leathery black wings.

Both the adult wizards were stumped, whereas Harry was still murmuring something at the creatures. Severus smirked after a moment, realising that the boy had found his familiars all by his own. The Dark Lord was in for a shock and he was going to enjoy it when he sees the creatures for the first time, if he sees them. His smirk turned malicious as he remembered the Headmaster was in for a shock too. He paid for both the creatures, trying to get his mask back in place.

The shopping in Muggle London was a better trip. They had left the creatures in the hands of the goblins, trusting them more than the shop manager of the Menagerie, with a request of finding out all that they could about the creatures. So, they had moved on to the muggle part of their shopping. He and Draco were amused by Harry's antics, who was back to normal after the creatuers were taken along with them away from the 'bad stinky place' as the creatures had told Harry. Their shopping was done quite quickly, Draco picking up all the clothes needed, in Harry's size, after he had made Harry try a few to ascertain the size. Colours were all picked up by Harry, who was ecstatic on doing so, hence a mish-mash of colours was the result. Toys were bought by Severus, while Draco busied Harry in said shopping. All of it was paid for by Severus who had a card for such purposes, when he needed to venture out in the Muggle world.

Harry had gotten tired after running around in Muggle London. So they had gone back to Diagon Alley for some food, and Harry was promised ice-cream if he behaved, which had brought tears to the boys eyes, and he promptly shoved himself into the nearest leg, which happened to be Draco's.  
Other than that, the lunch had passed quickly and quietly, and Harry had eaten his food and his ice-cream with gusto.

~~***~~

The wards chimed as his guests arrived. The Dark Lord rose from his seat, looking out the windows at the three figures coming up the hill. This meeting was going to be different than any other meeting he had attended.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed.. leave me your comments for any and all things you wish.. Kudos are very much appreciated.. :D  
> *wavy arms*


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update.. I just couldn't formulate a proper outline for the conversations to be held in this chapter..

Harry was sitting between Draco and Severus on the sofa. Marvolo was sitting in an armchair a bit to the side. When Harry had seen the man, he was curious, but scared. Marvolo's red eyes sharp and looking at him, his own green ones looking back before he had hidden his face in Severus' neck. Marvolo and Severus were in a deep discussion and Draco was absolutely engrossed in listening to it, leaving Harry to entertain himself. Which was alright as Harry was quite adept at that, making up stories, daydreaming in general was what he had spent majority of his life doing.

Marvolo saw the boy looking off into the distance, not focussed on anything and his eyes glassy. He was tempted to talk to the boy when he had first entered the room, but had decided better when he saw how shy the boy was. He wanted Harry to come talk to him, but he was sitting quietly, behaving not at all like a child of 5 years of age. He sure had seen more inquisitive and active children of Harry's age. He had to start up a conversation with Harry himself.

"Harry, what are you thinking of?", he asked, softly as he could, trying not to startle the child.  
Harry looked up at him, his eyes wide. "Nothin', sir. Makin' up story, that's all.", he replies, timidly, wringing his fingers and then promptly shoving his hands under his thighs, looking down at his lap.  
"May I hear this story of yours? Will you tell me about it?"  
"You weally wanna?" Harry was surprised. But Marvolo merely gave him a soft nod.  
"I was thinkin' 'bout my pets, sir. They are with the goblinses righ' now. I was jus' thinkin' how I woulda like to play wif them 'n spend time wif them.", he bit his lip and looked up at Marvolo who was simply waiting to hear what the boy may say further about his pets. But Harry was hesistant in speaking anymore.  
Marvolo, seeing this, asked him,"What pets do you have Harry? You didn't tell me."  
"Its a kitty 'n a lizard with wings, sir.", Harry spoke softly, still biting his lip, and looking at his shoes, scuffing them together.  
"More like a mysterious gryffin and a dragon.", Severus spoke up from the side.  
That had Marvolo stumped. A gryffin and a dragon!  
"Do you like your pets, Harry?", he asked the shy boy. Harry nodded enthusiastically, "Yes! They be the best ever. They speak in my head, so no one can hear them, 'cept me.", here he gave a shy smile. Marvolo smiled back at him, getting more and more intrigued by the small boy in front of him.  
"Will you come here Harry?", he asked the boy, keeping his tone neutral, he knew he could come off as a strict person, and he did not want Harry to be scared or feel anything negative towards him.  
Harry slowly slipped off the sofa, and went to stand in front of the armchair Marvolo was sitting on, looking down at his shoes, hands behind his back. Marvolo hooked his fingers underneath his chin and tilted his head up. But Hary had his eyes still turned down. "Look at me Harry, I am not going to hurt you.", he spoke softly, almost in a whisper.  
With some hesitation, Harry looked up at him, not directly looking him in the eye.  
"You are a special boy. Do you know that Harry?"  
Harry's head jerked a bit and then he shook his head. "No sir. I am just a boy. Not special.", he said, and then tried to tuck his chin back in his chest, waiting for the reprimand for negating Marvolo's statement. But Marvolo only kept speaking, "Yes you are Harry. You are so very special, and so important, to me." Marvolo slowly pulled Harry up in his lap, giving him a chance to pull away, but Harry simply went along, and sat limply on his lap. He again pulled his face up and saw tears in his eyes. He simply wiped them away and continued speaking, "You are a brave boy Harry, I only wish I could show you I mean all I say and will say to you. I hope I can be a part of your life now. You are very important to me. You see Harry, someone took you from me. We were to be together. Will you have me in your life Harry? May I be your friend?"  
Harry simply wrapped his arms around his neck and held on for dear life. Marvolo hugged him back, as Harry sobbed quietly, he rubbed his hand up and down his back, soothing him.  
Severus and Draco sitting all the while, looking at the both of them in awe. Marvolo turned his head and kissed the boy softly on his temple. Harry clutched at him tighter, "Thank you. But I dunno your name." he said, clearly ditressed. Marvolo chuckled softly, "Well you wont be able to say Marvolo, so you shall call me Tom."  
"Okay, Tom. But you hafta share me with Sevvie 'n Dray. Cuz Sevvie is impo'ant, and Dray is my friend too."

~~***~~

The little boy had left the Dark Lord content, even if he had fell asleep while talking, the day's activities taking a toll on his little body. He simply marvelled at the fact that how much the boy was like him, yet not. He was happy to have him in his life though. And he would do absolutely everything to keep him there.

~~***~~

The Headmaster had been waiting for them when they apparated back to the gates of Hogwarts. Severus gave him a short run down of what had happened. Exaggerating that the creatures had not left the boy alone and had stuck to him with all their might. Said boy was drooling on Severus' shoulder, as he slept and the two familiars clung to the shoulder and arm of Severus, placed there by Severus himself. The goblins were still looking for information on the creatures. Draco had acted his snooty self and bid farewell saying 'he needed his beauty sleep, and thank you Headmaster for letting him go shop for his ingredients', and promptly headed inside, where he waited for Severus.  
Severus himself could not get away from the Headmaster much faster, as he wanted to ban the creatures, and Severus vehemently argued against it, saying he didn't want a bawling brat in his living quarters when he found out his "pets" were missing. The Headmaster reluctantly gave his permission and Severus rushed to his quarters like a bat out of hell, not that he would ever agree to 'rushing' anywhere.

Reaching his office, he saw the two thirds of the Golden trio and the Weasley girl waiting. He was tempted to use the alternate entrance to his living quarters, but he could not always ignore them, or they would only get worse. Sighing, he steeled himself and pulled up his trademark sneer, hoping it was effective even with a child sleeping in his arms and two creatures clinging to him.  
"What are you three doing here?", he spoke up as he reached them.  
"We were waiting for you sir. We wanted to see if Harry was alright.", Granger spoke up. The two Weasleys standing beside her, their eyes showing nothing but distrust.  
"As you can see Miss Granger, Harry is tired and is sleeping off his day at the market. It would be immensly helpful if you would come tomorrow to ask of his health. I need to put him to bed. Move before I take away points.", Severus sneered with all he had, already tired of looking at their faces, filled with distrusy and hatred.  
He then tried to get into his office, but the Weasley girl spoke up. "What did you do to him? I know its your fault. You must gave done something to him. He couldn't have de-aged just because of a botched up potion. Surely its your doing. I bet you altered Madame Pomphrey's memories too. You and that ferret are planning something!"  
Severus' scowl only turned deeper at that, but before he could say anything, he felt Harry stiffen and tighten his hold on him. Severus knew the boy was awake. He wanted to get away from these three as soon as possible.  
At that moment Ginny stepped forward and tried to snatch Harry away from Severus. Harry got scared and tightened his hold on Severus, tears welling up behind his eyelids. The two familiars of Harry felt the distress pouring off of him and the lion stood up on Severus' shoulder and hissed at Ginny while the dragon slunk up to Harry's back and flapped his wings, baring its teeth. Ginny shrieked and let go of Harry, now noticing the two ceatures she had not seen in her anger at Severus. Ron had jumped up beside his sister when the dragon had flared its wings.  
"What are those things doing here? Where did they come from?", he said.  
"The 'Dragon' is Potter's familiar, so is the 'Gryffin'. It would be in your interest if you do not distress him, or you will have to face these two.", he saw a calculating look in Hermione's eyes. "I have taken permission from the Headmaster on Potter's behalf. The familliars wil stay with him as long as the three of them live. Now, you should head to the Great Hall, its dinner time. And I am sure Mr. Weasley here does not wish to miss any meals."  
With that, Severus slipped in his office and quickly took Harry to his room, where he held him close till the shocked and crying boy fell asleep again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed.. Leave me your responses.. :) <3


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the plot slowly creeps in... Slowly.. Like a tortoise.. :P

Draco was waiting for Severus and Harry in Severus' private rooms. He had seen the Weasleys and Granger waiting outside the office, so he had gone in through the alternative, direct entrance to Severus' living area. He had heard the Weasley girl screaming at Severus and was worried about Harry. He knew the boy would be terrified. And he was correct. For as soon as Severus entered the room, he held the boy close to him till Harry fell asleep.

"Is he alright?", he asked. Severus startled, looking at Draco with a shocked expression on his face.  
"Draco! Merlin, you scared me. How long have you been here?", Severus asked, loosening his grip on Harry which he had tightened on hearing Draco's voice. Harry did that to him. He was so wrapped up in him, making sure he wasn't hurt, that his honed spy senses were dulled down at that moment. He needed to pick it up, if he wanted to keep Harry safe.  
"I was waiting for you. I had thought I could get some more time to spend with Harry before he fell asleep. But the Weasels and Granger saw to it that it wouldn't happen." Draco sneered at their names. "Anyway, I heard the Weaslette screaming. So, is he alright?" he asked again pointing to Harry.

Severus sighed, looking down at his lap, where Harry was still holding onto his robes and his familiars were curled around him. The boy had dried tear tracks on his cheeks. Severus picked the three of them up and motioned Draco to come along.  
"He was scared I presume. Ms. Weasley had tried to snatch him away from me, but he held on. His familiars helped too, hissing and growling at her, scaring her away. He had started crying, and as you saw, fell asleep that way." Severus said.

He and Draco changed Harry's pajamas and tucked him in, Harry's familiars curling on each side of him. He looked at peace and Severus hoped he could help him be happy in the future, however it may be.

~~***~~

Severus was sleeping deeply when he felt something tugging on his bed sheets. Opening his eyes slowly, he turned towards the side the sheets were being pulled to. He saw bright green eyes and a mess of black hair. Harry was awake.  
"Sev'us. Are you awake now?" the boy asked. Something was different.  
Severus pulled the boy up on the bed and looked at him. The boy's familiars not far behind him also scrambled up on his bed.  
"What happened Harry?"  
"It hurt Sev'us. I was sleeping and then it hurt. So I woke up. But I was scared so I came here."  
"Where does it hurt, little one? Let me see."  
"It hurt all over. But now am good. I just was scared why I hurt."  
Severus looked at the boy again, trying to gauge what had changed. Then he asked, "How old are you Harry?"  
"Am 6 years old Sev'us! Am a big boy." he grinned at him.  
Then Severus noticed, the boy had indeed grown. He now looked just as a 6 year old boy should look. For that Severus was happy. But now the question arose how had Harry grown a full year in one night. But that was for tomorrow.  
"Alright then big boy, let's put you back to bed." and Harry's face fell. "What's wrong Harry? Do you not wish to sleep in your room?"  
Harry shook his head with hesitation. "Can I sleep here with you Sev'us?" the boy asked, voice low and timid.  
Severus let his face relax into a small smile. "Of course Harry. Come on then, let's tuck you in." And Severus pulled him under the covers, tucking the boy close and raking a hand through his hair till the boy fell asleep, with his familiars curled up against his back.

~~***~~

Down in the Chamber of Secrets, within the stone carved head of Salazar Slytherin, a silver-purple egg jiggled and glowed, vanishing in a bright light.

It appeared near the grey eyed, ice- blonde young man. Who curled around it in sleep, as if protecting it.

~~***~~

At breakfast, Severus went up to the Great Hall. He had left Harry in his chambers, still asleep with his familiars. The boy looked like a young angel with the way his skin glowed and his black hair contrasted it, his cheeks a soft pink. It was hard to leave him there,but he had to keep up appearances for his own sake. It would not do good if people were to think he spent all his time with the boy, even if he loved the boy to pieces. He had shocked himself this morning when he had bent down to kiss the boy's forehead softly. He knew then, he would do anything for the boy.

But for now, his trademark scowl was on his face, devoid of any emotion. He looked around the hall and saw that his godson was missing. Where was the boy, he thought. Looking towards the Gryffindor table, he saw the Weasleys and Granger were talking to each other, and the Weasley girl looked at him in between, pure hatred in her eyes. Suddenly, an inconspicuous owl landed in their midst. Granger showed the other two what the missive attched to the owl's leg said, and they left the hall together. As the Headmaster was missing too, he was quite sure that he had sent that owl. The Headmaster was cooking something up. He needed to act fast, or Harry might be lost to him.

With this thought, he too, left the hall and went in search of his godson.

~~***~~

The Headmaster stroked his beard as Ginny related the events of last night. How the boy had clung to Severus and how his familiars were ready to attack them and defend the boy.  
He looked at the three in front of him. They were intelligent beings and could have done things beyond their capacity, had he not brain-washed them into submitting to him. He smirked internally, thinking how they shall too be disposed off once Harry and Tom were finished. But the boy attaching himself had thrown somewhat of a wrench in his plans. Not to worry, he knew how to play his spy.  
He dismissed the two Weasleys and kept Granger back.  
"Miss Granger, I have a task of utmost importance to give to you. But you must bear in mind that no one shall get any inkling of it."  
"Of course Headmaster. I will be discreet." the girl said.  
"Well then. I know research is your forte." Here the girl preened," and I wish you to research about the Founder's familiars. I hope you will be up to the challenge as it is very difficult to find out about them. You have all services at your disposal. You may use my personal library. But I want that information. Do whatever you have to." he said, his eyes twinkling something fierce, a weird darkness in them.  
"As you wish, Headmaster." the bushy haired girl said. Taking her leave she skipped her way to the library, starting there she will climb her way to the Headmaster's library. Recording all and any information she shall come across.

~~***~~

Draco was hiding, yes he was, there was no other word for it. The silver-purple egg sitting on his pillow. The blonde had woken up that morning to find himself curled around that egg. It was big, but not that big. May be slightly bigger than an emu's egg. He had no clue where it had come from. He was sure, it was not there when he had gone to sleep last night. He needed help. His godfather. Yes, he might know. If not, he could always ask his father and his Lord. They would help. With that, the boy picked up the egg. No harm had come to him when he slept curled around it, he was sure nothing would happen if he touched it. Gently, he swaddled it in a pullover of his and hid it in his bag. Picking it up, he made his way out of the dorms and the common room, trying to gain no attention as he slipped out, and headed to his godfather's room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave me your feedback.. :D


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> let's be honest.. I have so many ideas for this fic.. Choosing one is difficult.. But I am getting there.. Please be patient with me.. I love you all who left me kudos and commented.. You guys are awesome.. <3 •3•

The twin red headed menaces were looking at the Marauder's Map, which they had loaned from Harry a week ago. The behaviour of their youngest siblings and Hermione had been bugging them both. They knew there was something going on there. As they looked on, they saw the three dots denoting their targets' heading towards the Headmaster's office. This was the sixth time in two days that they had done so.

Fred and George then searched for Harry on the map, and they found him. With Snape and Malfoy. Looking at each other, they nod. Something had happened and they needed to find out what.

~***~

The Headmaster looked at the pink clad monstrosity of a woman sitting in front of him. Lord help him, even he wasn't fond of this woman but was tolerating her till the curse of her position as the DADA teacher kicked in. He hoped it happens soon. Meanwhile, the woman was saying something and he hadn't heard half of it.  
".... I demand to know where the boy is Headmaster. He simply cannot just skip detentions assigned to him. That is disrespectful, and I shall not tolerate such behaviour."  
"Madam Umbridge, of whom are speaking, if I may ask?", the Headmaster said.  
Umbridge sputtered to a stop. Looking at him incredulously, she said, "Have you not been listening? Harry Potter. I have been talking about Harry Potter. Where is the boy Headmaster? He has not come to my detention. He has not been seen since the past two days! I demand to know where he is?" The woman was now pink in the face too. How marvellous. The Headmaster thought. He waited for her to take a sip of her tea before he spoke.  
"Mr. Potter has had an accident of sorts which had some unexpected results. He is in isolation in the infirmary. I am sure, my dear madam, that you would not want to be contaminated if his condition proves to be contagious, do you?"  
Umbridge shook her head, the potion in the tea already in effect.  
"If that is all Madam Umbridge, I would now like to be left alone, by your leave."  
"Of course Headmaster. Sorry to have bothered you." With that, Dolores Umbridge left the Headmaster's office, still effected by the potion. The Headmaster leaned back in his chair, his fingers steepled together, deep in thought. He wanted the boy under his control. But somehow, this de-aging of his was making him slip away. Was giving him to Severus a mistake? Surely not. The man was loyal to him. Everything would work out in his favour. He was sure.

~***~

In the morning, Fred and George slipped silently towards the residential quarters of one Severus Snape. Surely Harry couldn't be staying with him willingly. And they were here to rescue him. Something had to be incredibly wrong for this situation to rise. Looking again at the map, they saw that the dots marked Snape and Malfoy were sitting together and the dot marked Harry seemed to be in a different room.  
"Should we ask them? Talk to them?" George whispered to his twin, closing the map and putting it away.  
"Do you think they'll tell us the truth?" Fred replied.  
George shrugged, "I think we should give them a chance. We are barging in on their privacy after all."  
Fred nodded hesitantly."Alright then. Here it goes."  
And then he knocked loudly on the painting frame acting as a door.

Inside the room, Severus and Draco looked towards the entrance. The wards telling Severus there were two persons standing outside his rooms. Sighing he got up, he could hazard a guess who they would be. Opening the door, he was met with the twins serious faces. Now that was an expression he had never seen on their faces.  
"Misters Weasley, what brings you here at this time of the evening?", he asked, knowing they had been informed about Harry staying with him, and had probably been informed by the three buffoons he had encountered.  
"We wish to know why Harry is with you. Please, tell us the truth. We only want what's best for him."  
Severus opened the door a bit wider, to let then through, quickly closing it behind them. He motioned them towards the large sofa opposite the fireplace. Severus explained rhe situation to them as it was, updating Draco too on the sudden growth spurt of Harry. Suddenly a black and green blur headed straight towards Severus.  
"Sevus up!" Harry said, his familiars following moments after him. The dour man simply picked the boy up and settled him on his hip. The twins gawking openly at them.  
"Sevus, who are they?" the little boy said, pointing towards the twins.  
Gathering themselves, the twins smiled towards the boy.  
"Why Gred," Fred spoke up, "this little gentleman does not know who we are!"  
"Blasphemy! Say it isn't so Forge, my heart won't be able to take it."  
"My dear brother, it is so. Worry not, we shall rectify this horrendous mistake"  
Turning towards the boy he said. "Young man, this is my brother George."  
"And this is my brother Fred."  
"The Weasley twins at your service". Both said simultaneously, ending with an exaggerated bow in Harry's direction.  
The boy was looking at them with wide eyes. Turning to Severus, he said, "Are they my new friends Sevus?"  
Severus looked at the two young men. Unlike the three buffoons, they had not tried to scream profanities at him nor tried to snatch Harry away.  
"Do you want them to be?"  
Harry scrunched up his nose, looking at the twins and pondering. "Yeah, they are funny. I like them. Is that okay?" he said, suddenly a bit apprehensive.  
"Of course its okay Harry. But they should also know, that if they hurt you, they'll face my wrath."  
The twins nodded at him, acknowledging his warning.  
Harry then wriggled out of his hold and stepped towards them. His hands behind his back, he was swinging back and forth on the heels and balls of his feet.  
"Do you wish to play? I have some toys we can play with. Dray and I make castles with the legos. Do you like legos? What about dragons? And cats? I have two pets. Do you have pets?" The boy said losing his apprehension by the moment.  
The twins then looked up at Severus. Draco interrupted, "Why don't we show them your toys Harry?", smiling at the boy.  
Harry nodded and went off towards the corner of the room where his toys were stored in a box, Draco and the twins following him.  
Severus looked after them. Hoping that the twins would be more help than hindrance. He then called up on Bezo for some snacks. Maybe the twins would even help in keeping an eye on Harry when he was busy finding the cure for him or finding the reason behind his sudden growth spurt.  
Maybe he could let the boys in on the true nature of the Headmaster, while he was at it. Marvolo would be happy to gain followers as notoriously creative as these young men were.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Show me your love through kudos and comments!!! :D :P


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for such a long wait.. Hope the chapter makes up for it.. >.>

Ginny Weasley was furious. The Golden boy had de-aged. Stupid potion accidents. She wanted to curse it all to hell. Her plan was going so well. She knew the Headmaster would get rid of her and her brother, even Granger after Harry became useless. But she had had a plan and it was such a shame it was all going to waste. The last stage of her plan was near and then it all blew up just because of stupid Neville and the stupid botched up potion. She had to do something! A wicked gleam came to her eyes. She knew what to do. With her destination set, she strode purposefully towards it.

~~***~~

Severus had visited Madame Pomphrey to discuss Harry's predicament with her. He had remembered that Harry had shown him an infirmary slip on the day of the accident when he was late. Madam Pomphrey had confirmed the visit saying it was for a stomach ache and nothing else. She had given the boy a soother and sent him on his way.

What was troubling to Severus was the fact that not everything is that simple with the boy. The botched up potion sample had revealed nothing. So what if the problem was due to something else mixing with the botched up potion? And then there was the question of Harry recognising him. How in the world was that possible? He had never met the boy before he had started attending Hogwarts.

Severus was thus lost in his musings when his elf popped by his side. He had asked Bezo to stay with the Weasley twins and help them convey messages to him discreetly when needed. His presence made Severus worry for Harry.  
"Bezo be bringing news master. The twinses say their sister bes moving to yous room. Master Harry bes there with master Draco.", the elf said.  
" Take me to my quarters Bezo." He replied. Then held on to the elf's hand proffered to him.

In a flash, Severus was in his rooms. Harry and Draco startled by his sudden appearance. Soon the twins were there too. Before anything could be said or done, Severus hissed in pain as he felt his mark burn and then pulse in intervals. Eyes goning wide, he said, "We need to move Harry out of Hogwarts. Don't ask me why, just do it."

The twins and Draco nodded. Severus started packing up his and Harry's belongings with Bezo helping him along. He saw the twins talking in hushed tones with Draco, taking care of Harry for one day had brought them at a consensus. They all wanted whatever was best for Harry. Suddenly they ran out of the room. Severus was bewildered but time was of essence so he continued his packing. Harry was sitting on the sofa, his familiars tucked around him protectively as he looked at Severus with worry filled eyes.  
Severus was taking everything with him, emptying his rooms and Harry's. Three trunks were full by the time everything was stowed away. The room now looked bare and uninhabited. Then the twins and Draco tumbled into the room. Hair wild and breathing heavily.  
"We stalled Ginny." Fred said gasping. "She won't get here in time."  
"Also, we would like to go with you." George continued, out of breath.  
"Yeah, what they said." Draco finished.

Severus rose an eyebrow at them, turning to the twins he asked, "What of your family? And your studies? I cannot in all honesty allow you to come with me."  
"Harry is all the family we need. And as for studies, we were already planning to leave, academics has never been our calling and you know it. We just did it for our father." Fred replied, George nodding along.  
"And you, Draco?"  
"I will be fine. I can be home schooled. Mother always wanted that. Maybe I'll get these two to join in too. But we are going with you, Uncle Sev." Draco said.  
"So be it. Now," he said turning back to the twins,"how do you propose we get out of here?"  
"Simple," George said as he pulled out Harry's invisibility cloak and map,"secret tunnels."

~~***~~

The Dark Lord was getting restless. He had sent Severus the message half an hour ago. When the portrait of Phineas Black had informed him of the Headmaster's plans, his first concern had been Harry. He knew the Headmaster again wanted to manipulate Harry into the perfect mold set by him, just as he had done earlier. With Harry's predicament turning more confusing than it was. He had suddenly had a growth spurt overnight. And then there was no clue hidden in the botched potion sample. The Headmaster had grown impatient within two days. And when Harry had gotten two familiars, he must have felt threatened.  
Oh how he wished Harry was here already.

A sudden disturbance in the wards alerted him of their arrival. Heading towards the hall, he saw Severus and Draco along with two red headed twins, that was a new development, entering his house. Harry was being carried by Severus, his familiars at the moment were attached to Draco. Maybe he was the one to originally carry him. The twins were openly gaping at the manor.  
"Did anyone follow you?" He asked Severus.  
"No, my lord." Severus replied.  
The twins were now even more shocked.  
"How did you escape Hogwarts unseen?" He asked, ignoring them for the time being.  
"We used the hidden tunnels, my lord." This was Draco.  
"Ah! I hope you used the Slytherin on then. It takes you across Hogsmeade and to the other side."  
Seriously, the gaping was unattractive now, what with all three of them looking at him dumbfounded. Severus of course kept his surprise hidden, if he was surprised that is.  
"By your expressions I'll hazard a guess and assume that's what you did. Very well. On to introductions. Severus?"  
"Yes, my lord. These are the Weasley twins, Fred and George, resident mischief makers and inventors. Misters Weasley, this is Tom Marvolo Riddle, whom you know better as The Dark Lord."

George was the first to recover. "I thought you'd be more snakey in your looks. Sir." His eyes widened at what he said. "I mean, George Weasley at your service."  
"And Fred Weasley." His brother said from his side, still looking gobsmacked.  
The Dark Lord rose an amused eyebrow in their direction. Severus huffed. "Well that's a first. Giving their true names. And not flinging curses is good too."  
"Indeed. As for my appearance Mr. Weasley, it's merely a glamour. And before you can fling curses and accusations and whatnot, let me make it clear, Harry is my priority too. As I can see he is yours."  
The twins nodded, still reeling from shock.  
"Come, I shall take you to your rooms. The elves are busy preparing your lunch."  
With that the Dark Lord stalked down a hallway, earlier unnoticed, with his guests following him.

 

~~***~~

Ginny burst through the door of the Headmaster's office.  
"They are gone!" She said. "Both of them. As if they were never here. The room is empty!"  
The Headmaster looked at her with fury. He was too late in taking action. And now his chance was gone. And so was Severus. He should have been quicker. Seething with anger, he went to his private rooms. He needed to take his anger out on something. Ginny had run away as soon as she had seen his face.  
On his perch, Fawkes gave a mournful trill. An apparition appeared in front of him, petting and soothing him. All was to be well. The heirs were now together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh.. M so sorry.. M so sleep deprived...
> 
> Hope it all makes sense. Even a little would do.. M so out of practice.. If confused leave me a comment n I'll explain it to you..  
> Hope you guys like it.. Thanks for the love.. All of you are awesome.. <3


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I have my exam in a week. So I thought I would update now and then after my exam as a treat to myself. I really need to de-stress now. It's getting on my nerves. Going crazy with it.
> 
> Anyhoo.. I hope u guys like the chapter. :) :*

By Monday, the whole school knew of the disappearance of Severus, Harry, Draco and the Weasley twins. And as is with rumour mills, many a different rumours were created and spread through the school. Each more far-fetched and elaborate than the one before it. The most favoured rumours were that Harry had been sent for special training with Severus to an undisclosed place, and that the Weasley Twins had eloped with the Malfoy scion. While the students were busy fueling such rumours. The teachers were up in arms.

The meeting Dumbledore had called for was not going as expected. Professor McGonagall was hissing, reminiscent of her animagus form, bringing down her fury on the Headmaster as she considered both Severus and Harry her sons. Madam Pomphrey was near agitated to the extent of McGonagall. Professor Flitwick was shooting concerned looks towards McGonagall as her Scottish brogue leaked into her speech. Trelawney was pretty much lost to the world in her sherry induced euphoria. The other teachers were half concerned for their students and colleague, and half terrified of their Deputy Headmistress.

Dumbledore wanted nothing more than to curse them all and be done with it. He carefully laid plans were unravelling but by bit. He had taken Harry's de-aging in stride, thinking it would help him get the boy more under his influence. But if seemed to have backfired on him spectacularly, what with both his spy and his weapon missing.

Dumbledore had defeated one dark lord his life time, and he was ready to play an important part in the destruction of a second one.

After his popularity had started to dwindle, fates had sent his way a child so greviously hurt, that he twisted him into a facsimile of evil to regain it all back again. Moulded the child so, that he knew nothing but wickedness and faliure. He took the little good the child had and hacked at it till it splintered away. He set him down such dark paths, that his soul bore the brunt of it. He played everyone like chess pieces, herding them towards a path which led to his rising as an all powerful, omnipresent albiet grandfatherly figure head.

The golden egg was the prophecy that drunk Trelawney gave him. It gave that final push he needed to get people to trust him. Although he did tamper with the prophecy to suit his needs. It was all for the greater good.

After all, who would go look for a prophecy with the names of three of the most unrelated people in the whole magical world.

~~***~~

Ginny was fuming. She was feeling murderous. She wanted to rip Longbottom to shreds and feed the pieces to the Giant Squid. She had so meticulously, religiously fed Potter potions so that he had eyes only for her. That bint Cho had nearly cost her dearly, but she had upped the strength of the potions and everything was back in control. As good as it was to have fun with the boys, she had her sight set on being Lady Potter. She wanted the fame, the fortune of being The Boy Who Lived's wife.

But then Harry had to go ahead and get de aged. How in the bloody hell had that happened? She was utterly baffled with the situation. And when she went to get Harry away from the dungeon bat, the de aged boy had held on for dear life. The boy's familiars were terrifying, small, but terrifying. Now the boy was gone, along with that greasy git.

Sitting alone in her dorm, Ginny went near desperate in her anger over things not going her way.

~~***~~

Hermione had searched and searched and searched and then searched some more. But she couldn't find any mention of the Founders ever having any familiars. She felt frustrated and upset. It felt as if the Headmaster had sent her onto a wild goose chase. She didn't like not succeeding in something. She felt as if she was letting the whole Muggleborn community down. But she had searched high and low. In the school library, in the Headmaster's library, heck, she had even searched through numerous bookshops for even a hint of such thing ever existing. But nothing came up.

Now, on top of that, Harry had vanished along with Professor Snape. She knew the Headmaster knew nothing about how or when they disappeared, that he was the one to start the special training spiel. It was utter rubbish. She knew Harry would never reach her level of excellence. No matter how much he trained, he would always need her brains.

Ron too, was irreplaceable, as Harry had no mind for strategy and such. Honestly, the boy had survived till now because of them and sheer dumb luck on his part. She huffed depriciatingly, and started up again on a fruitless endeavour, looking for the Founders' familiars.

~~***~~

The Dark Lord stood gazing out his window. Thinking on his secrets that only the dead knew. He was mulling over the fact that what had driven him to take steps as heinous as those. He needed to retrospect, go over his life with a fine toothed comb. On days like these he thanked Magick that he had practice and become proficient in the art of occlumency. It helped him immensely. He could go over his memories, pick at them, find the reason behind the drastic measures he had taken.

He knew, there was something sinister afoot. A knock on his study door distracted him. He saw Severus standing in the open doorway.

"Come in, Severus. Shut the door. I need to discuss something with you, but before that, let's get these sylabi over with. I want the Weasley twins to get proper education too."

"Of course My Lord." Severus inclined his head and they both sat at the table, going through subject their new students would need to learn.

~~***~~

Draco was still in confusion over the mysterious appearance of the mysterious egg that had appeared alongside him one night. He had yet to inform Severus of this. But school had prevented that, not now though. Now he had time and also the Dark Lord, whose vast knowledge might also be helpful. With that in mind, and nodding to himself, Draco picked up the satchel he stored the egg in, and started making his way towards the main study of the manor. He was sure he would find both the men there.

Reaching his destination, Draco rapped his knuckles sharply on the door. Hearing a soft "Enter" a few moments later, he pushed the door open. The Dark Lord and Severus were sitting at the desk, facing each other, parchment strewn about it, apparently discussing something of importance. The Dark Lord's glamour was down for the time being, showing his snake like visage, he would put it back up when Harry would be around. He had no intentions of giving the boy nightmares. The child was his favourite after all.

"Ah! Draco. We were just discussing your home schooling sylabi, now that you won't be going back to school. I have informed your parents, and they shall be coming after breakfast tomorrow for further details." The Dark Lord said, putting away the parchmets, making neat little stacks of them. It was disconcerting for Draco to see the Dark Lord like this, so open and almost friendly. "So, how may we be of help? As I assume you have come to talk to both Severus and I?" The Dark Lord spoke.

"Yes, My Lord. I am need of your help regarding a peculiar matter." Here Draco placed his satchel on the seat between his godfather and the Dark Lord. "This egg appeared on my bed the night previous. I do not know what or whose the egg is. And I was hoping your knowledge might benefit me."

By now Draco had taken out the egg. It's silver colour was now over taking the purple, it was almost an undertone to it. Severus was perplexed with the egg's colour, while the Dark Lord was staring at it in shock, and that expression did not suit his face.

"My Lord, do you know what animal this belongs to?" Draco asked softly, not sure as to what could shock the Dark Lord so.

"Tha... Ahem... That is a basilisk egg. A rare commodity in itself. You are truly blessed Draco, to be bestowed with such gift. You said it appeared to you?" The Dark Lord said, still reeling.

"Yes, My Lord. It was there when I woke up."

"Fascinating. Well, not to worry, I have some literature on basilisks. I will lend them to you, so you can better prepare for it. If that is all?"

"Yes My Lord." With that Draco hastened out of the room, his work done for now.

Leaving two very surprised adults and one weary Dark Lord.

~~***~~

The twins were baffled to say the least. The Dark Lord had been more than civil to them and totally different to what they had expected. Both of them were still trying to wrap their heads around the fact, that he had personally shown them to their rooms.

That was a level of hospitality that they had not expected from him. He was either trying to lure them into false sense of security or they were really being mislead. They hoped to Merlin it was neither of those.

~~***~~

Harry woke up in an unknown place. It was bright and he could see everything, that gave him a semblance of comfort. Slowly pushing himself off the mattress, he looked around. The bed he was tucked in, was circular in shape, and was hooked up to the ceiling, too heavy to swing. There were three doors, one in front of him, one on his left and one behind him. On his right side there were huge French windows, which explained the bright light. Slipping off the bed, the little boy walked over to the door on his left, opening it, he found himself in another bedroom, which looked similar to his, except the bed was a big four poster. He shut the door, and tried the one which was in front of the bed. That door lead him to a corridor. Closing that door, he tried the last door, it lead him to a walk-in closet, where there was another door in front of him, which lead him to a bathroom. Going back to the closet, he noticed his trunk was sitting t the bottom of a shelf, which now held his belongings. His clothes hung in cupboards and toys placed carefully on shelves withing his reach.

Harry went back to the main room, taking his stuffed snake, which ironically, was given to him by the twins, with him and waited for Severus to come get him.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My muse took my hand and made me write.. Long chapter.. coz it was long overdue.. hope you guys like it.. enjoy!!

Severus entered Harry's room, with the intention to wake up the boy for supper. What he saw made him stop in his tracks. Harry was sitting in the middle of his round swing bed, perfectly still. His eyes had a glassy faraway look. His familiars curled around his arms. Looking closely he noticed, that the Chimaeras had sunk their teeth in the boys arms, but their was no blood to be seen. Severus was in a state of shock. He rushed forward to check on the boy.

The boy's familiars too, seemed to be unaware of their surroundings. So Severus scooped them all up in his arms and carried them to his own room. He set them down on his bed, and sent a patronus to the other residents of the house. Soon, the four rushed into the room.  
“Severus, what is happening?” the Dark Lord said. He saw Harry laying listlessly on Severus' bed. It was a worrying sight.  
“I don’t know. I found him as is. I’m hoping you can tell me something about this. His familiars are biting him, but there is no blood. I have never come across anything like this.” He said, worry clear in his voice.  
“Neither have I. Fred, George, Draco, I need you three to search the library for any and all books about familiars and bring them here.” The Dark Lord said, turning to the three young men in question.  
The three of them nodded silently before rushing back outside and heading to the library, lead by Draco. The Dark Lord and Severus sat by Harry’s side, keeping a watch over him.

~~***~~

Harry was snuggled up on his bed with his stuffed snake toy when the door to his room opened. He sat up, looking at the woman in front of him.  
“Harry? Oh my beautiful baby. You have grown up so handsome.”, the red haired woman said, tears welling up in her eyes.  
“Mum? Have you come to take me with you?” Harry asked.  
“Oh! No my darling boy. It’s it your time yet. I’m just here to reverse that enchantment our dear Hogwarts cast on you. And to have some much needed conversation with you.”  
“Oh... okay mum. Can I meet Dad too?”  
“Maybe. If he’s allowed.” Lilly smiled at him. “Now, let’s get you back to your proper age.”

~~***~~

Severus, Tom, the Weasley twins and Draco were poring over different times and books over familiars when Harry started emitting a glow. His body slowly lifted up the bed, hair whipped around by an unfelt wind, a myriad of colours swirling around him. The other occupants could do nothing but watch in awe as it all happened.  
After a few moments, minutes, hours, who knew, Harry slowly descended back on the bed, he was now back to his proper age, his body healed of any ailments and deformities, which no one knew of except Harry himself.  
They all looked on in astonishment as Harry woke up with a groan, his eyes fluttering open. He looked around, his eyes latching on to Severus, tears welling up. He shot off the bed with a burst of energy, and jumped on him, wrapping his arms and legs around him. Severus stumbled a bit but stayed upright. Harry’s whole body shook with heart wrenching sobs. He looked up and stretched out his hand towards the Dark Lord, who was looking at the both of them in surprise. He went up to the crying boy, and held his hand. Harry in a surprising show of strength, he pulled the Dark Lord towards himself and Severus.  
“Do I have to pull you guys in too?” Harry said, peeking over Severus' shoulder at the two red heads and one blonde.  
Draco stepped up behind Harry, hugging both him and Severus from the side, all the while trying not to feel weird about seeing the Dark Lord from such close quarters. Fred and George on the other hand had no trouble piling up on the group hug, squeezing everyone from the outside, at which Draco gave a little 'meep', which made Harry snort and then outright laugh. Severus just hugged the boy a little more tightly, as the others looked at the boy in wonder, seeing him laugh in such a carefree manner.

~~***~~

Late night saw them piled up on Severus’ bed, Harry had refused to let anyone go. He was sitting bracketed on the sides by Severus and Tom. Fred, George and Draco sitting in front of them. Harry had stopped crying after some time, but had still clung to all of them.  
“I saw mum.” He said, “When I was unconscious, that was because of Lady Magick and to some extent my familiars.”  
“But where are your familiars now?”, Draco asked.  
Harry smiled and simply pushed up his T-shirt sleeves, which had miraculously grown as he did. There on his biceps, were the two familiars. The griffin on the right and the dragon on the left. The dragon with its tail wrapped around the arm and snaking up his shoulder, it’s wings half open. It’s eyes glowing, it’s scales shining. The griffin sat on his arm peacefully but you could tell by the cold fire in its green eyes that it was alert to its surroundings. Both looked older than they did off Harry’s skin.  
“Woah Harry! That’s bloody amazing.”, The twins said in sync. Draco too nodded along, speechless.  
“There is so much I have to tell you. So many misunderstandings, so many manipulations, so many lies and hidden truths. You won’t believe me. But it’s s very true. Every single bit of it.”  
“Tell us Harry. We will believe you.” Tom said.  
“I am not sure I believe it myself. But you deserve to know. Everyone does.”  
\--------flashback--------  
Harry opened his eyes. And saw his mother.  
“There you are. My darling boy.” A soft smile on her face.  
“Mum” Harry whimpered and enveloped her in a hug.  
“Oh my baby boy. I’m so proud of you. You have been so brave, so kind. Such a gentle soul you have.” Lilly hugged him back. “But there is so much you need to know honey. So much has been twisted by lies of one man. You need to know, and tell it, prove it to others. I’m sure, you’ll be able to do that.”  
Harry leaned back and looked at his mother. “What lies mum?”  
“Dumbledire is not who you think he is son. He has been spinning a web of lies and manipulations for his own benefit. He has harmed so many people for his own gain. Your father and I should have never trusted him. But we discovered the truth too late. This is Lady Magick's way of righting those wrongs. Through you, she wishes to heal all the pain. You did not de-age because of the potion mishap as everyone thinks, you de-aged because Lady Magick helped Hogwarts in doing it. Oh Harry, my sweet, sweet child, how to say this? I am so sorry baby, but you are not my child.”  
“W..what?! What do you mean I’m not your child?” Harry exclaimed, shock running through him, tears flowing unbidden.  
“Harry, Dumbledore stole you, and gave you to us. You were someone else’s, and he stole you from them. I promise you Harry, I’m not lying.”  
“Who are my parents then? If not you, then who is my mother?”  
“You were born of two wizards Harry.”  
“What?!! Oh Merlin! How much more freakish could I get?!”  
“No Harry, you are not a freak. It’s normal in the wizarding society. You are not a freak. My horse faced sister is a freak who could not set aside her hatred for me, to bring you up properly. You deserve love and affection and acceptance. You deserve everything in the world and more.”  
“Who are my parents mum? Can I even call you mum?”  
“You can call me whatever you want dear. As for your parents, it’s Tom and Severus.”  
“The Dark Lord and Snape. They are my parents. What even...?!! Mum!! The Dark Lord is ... the Dark Lord and Snape is a bloody spy working against him! They are nowhere near being a couple let alone being parents, that too mine.”  
“Its all Dumbledore's doing Harry. He robbed them of you and their memories of you and themselves. But you can restore it. There was a prophecy made against him. But he twisted it so, and used it for his own good. Wait, I’ll show it to you.”  
Suddenly a screen appears near them, holographic by the looks of it. Harry sees Trelawney heading towards the Headmaster’s office. She knocks on it and is asked to enter. There behind the desk, is Headmaster Dumbledore, sitting grandfatherly as ever.  
“Come, come, Sybil. I was just waiting for you. Now, how can I help you.”  
A much younger Trelawney, pushes up her glasses, her ever present beads jangling around her throat and wrists. “I am in need of a job Headmaster. I was wondering if you had something for me.”  
“At the moment, I’m sorry to say Sybil, I can’t help you. There is nothing I could offer you.”  
“Oh Headmaster, surely there must be something I could do. I have tried everywhere else. You are my last hope.”  
“I am sorry Sybil. I can’t.”  
“Oh. Alright Headmaster. Thank you for your time.”  
Here, Trelawney's eyes glassed over and she went still.  
“The one with the power to vanquish the Dark one arises,  
Born to the misunderstood and the misery.  
The one with the power of balance,  
Born as the fifth month dies.  
He will bring about total upheaval,  
Lady Magick healed anew.”

Dumbledore sat there in shock. He needs to keep Trelawney close, was the first thought that came to mind. Trelawney now coming out of her trance looked at the Headmaster, blinking back into awareness.  
“Sybil, meet me at the Hog's Head in a week’s time. Maybe I can set something up for you by then.” The Headmaster said, twinkling his eyes, smiling a benign smile.  
“Oh thank you Headmaster. I will be there, surely.”  
“Good, good. Be there by 5 in the eve. Alright? Until then Sybil.”  
“Until then Headmaster.”

The holographic screen wavered a bit and the scene changed to one of the Hog’s Head rooms. The Headmaster waiting there for Trelawney. As soon as she entered the room, Dumbledore flicked his wand at her and cast the imperious curse.  
“Sybil, we shall be going down in a few moments, where I’ll take your interview for the position of the new divination professor. When I say the words ‘now Sybil', you will speak the following lines. The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord arises. Born to those who thrice defied him. Born as the seventh month dies.”  
“Yes Headmaster.” The woman said, her voice monotonous.  
They both then head down, and sit near a table by the window. Dumbledore waits for a moment, and as he feels Severus nearby, he says, “Now Sybil.”  
The fake prophecy reaches the ears of Severus, who is so worried about his lover being the Dark Lord, that he misses the tracking charm being placed on his person as he apparates away.

The screen again wavers, and now Harry sees Dumbledore standing in front of a small non-descript house. He walks up the path way, and knocks the door. The door then is opened by a very young looking Tom Marvolo Riddle, who pales at the sight of him and tries to force the door shut. But it’s too late, Dumbledore forces his way in, incapacitates Tom and moves ahead towards the room he knows contains the baby. He is proven right when he sees the baby sleeping calmly in its crib. He then picks up the baby and apparates away.  
The screen jumps to another scene where Lilly Potter is in the hospital going through labour pains. But she loses the child. Dumbledore reaches the hospital, he consoles the devastated parents. Looking for all the world forlorn at the loss of life of their child. He surreptitiously nicks their fingers with one of his many rings. He then uses it to cast a complicated and illegal blood glamour over the stolen child. He then replaces the stolen baby with the stillborn child. Then proceeds to leave. The hospital then informs the Potters of their miraculously alive baby boy, who then are lost in the euphoria of it, not questioning their alive child being a bit bigger than a new born.  
The screen shows Tom and Severus frantically looking for their missing child. Severus is bitter and disheartened, Tom is not much better. Worried about being found out, Dumbledore once again goes to their home. This time at night. Both the men are asleep after another futile day of not finding their baby boy. Dumbledore whispers the memory charm over them. Taking away all their memories of each other and their lost baby. He then plants the half cooked prophecy in Severus’mind. Leaving destiny to now work it’s course.  
The screen dies down. Harry looks helplessly at Lilly. His tears start anew.  
“Why did he do that?! Why go through all that trouble just for some prophecy?” he said, hicoughing in between.  
“Because the original prophecy was about his downfall Harry. And he knew that. So he separated all the elements which brought his downfall.”  
“But I was born in July!”  
“No darling. You were born in May. 31st May 1980. You were two months old when he stole you from Tom and Severus and gave you to us.”  
“This is too much too process mum. I can’t believe this. How am I going to make others believe it? This is so outlandish!”  
“You are not going to make anyone believe it. You will prove it to them.”  
“But how?!”  
“With the help of your parents, your twin red heads and blonde someones. And, your father’s followers. You can give Tom his soul shards back too. He needs them. He’s gone too long without them. The ritual he did to get his body back, gave him nagini's soul shard. He needs the rest to heal. So he can remember you.”  
“Okay, alright. I can do that.”  
“And Harry, tell Severus that I forgave him. And that I’m happy for him. Tell him to be happy for himself.”  
“Yeah. I will.”  
“Goodbye, son.”  
“But mum! I want to meet Dad!”  
“Oh don’t worry, he’s the one who’ll help you get back. You’ll see him soon.”  
With that, Lilly faded away. Soon, the door opened once again.  
“Hey champ. Look at you. My handsome son.” James said. Leaning in the doorway.  
“Dad!” Harry scrambled up to him. Throwing himself at him.  
“Oh kiddo. I missed you. My sunshine.” James sighed. “Come on. Let’s go back.”  
James wrapped an arm around his son’s shoulders and lead him out the door.  
“Harry, trust Sirius and Remus. And tell them I have ordered them to stop blaming themselves. Marauders honour.”  
James then kissed his son’s forehead and bright lights swirled around Harry.

\-----end flashback-----

Tom and Severus sat stunned to silence, while Draco, Fred and George gaped at Harry, who was now feeling uncomfortable with all the silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Show me your love through comments and kudos. Coz I live for them.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so so so sorry guys. I have not updated this story since.. long long time.. I have been wallowing in not so great feelings. But worry not... I'll not leave this incomplete.. I will endeavour to update it a bit more regularly if sporadically.. you guys are so awesome for not leaving this story and still sticking by it.. I love you guys... <3

Dark Lord was alone in his study the next morning. They would all be going to Gringotts within the next hour and the Dark Lord was not in the best of his moods.

'The Malfoy brat has a basilisk egg!’ he thought. ‘How in the world did he get it? Appeared to him? How unlikely.’ He scoffed.’surely the boy had stolen it? Or had gotten it through illegal means? How could he have a basilisk egg and not I, the Dark Lord? Sure I have Nagini’s. But a basilisk by my side? Oh how marvellous that will be. I need to get that basilisk egg for myself.’ He thought. His red eyes getting an inhuman gleam to them. ‘Yes. I’ll do away with the boy, and the egg shall be mine.’

With that thought in his head, the Dark Lord moved stealthily out of the manor.

~~***~~

Harry and Draco were enjoying the luscious back gardens of the Riddle manor. Fred and George were inside with Severus. The way the three of them had bonded over experimental potions and spells was baffling to be honest. They were waiting on the Dark Lord to finish up his paperwork so they could go to Gringotts. Till then, Harry’s familiars too were frolicking about in the garden, leaving Harry’s shoulders bare of any tattoos. So it was a bit shocking when they came bounding out of no where and stood in front of the two boys, growling at something a bit to their left.

The Dark Lord came out of the hedges hiding him. Harry’s shoulders lost a bit of their tension on seeing him. But Draco’s whimper made him stiffen right back up. Looking at him, he saw raw fear on the pale boy’s face. He knew something was seriously wrong if the Dark Lord was affecting the boy so. Reaching out to his familiars through his consciousness, he projected Severus’face towards them with all his might. His familiars tensed up a bit, but then the dragon chuffed and literally disappeared. Draco was too petrified to notice anything.

“Draco.” The Dark Lord said, and Harry knew why Draco was so terrified. This was not Tom Marvolo Riddle. This was Voldemort, the ruthless maniac Dark Lord and they were facing him with Harry’s Griffin as their defence.

~~***~~

Severus was deep in discussion with the Weasley twins when Harry’s dragon appeared in midst of them. Not wasting any time, the dragon bumped it’s ead against that of the potions master and Severus saw the Dark Lord standing tall in all his malicious glory in front of Harry and Draco. Severus paled, he knew that manic red glint, he needed to get to them before it was too late. As he thought of it, a light surrounded him and he was deposited outside in the gardens.

The Dark Lord had his back to him and for that Severus was thankful. Draco was white as sheet. Harry on the other hand was torn between helping Draco and distracting the Dark Lord to focus on him, as he was too focused on the pale boy.  
He heard the Weasley twins come up behind him. 

“What’s happening?” he heard one of them ask.  
“It seems the Dark Lord has slipped into one of his more... darker self. I can’t fathom how it happened, but we need to get the boys away from him and incapacitate him.  
“Well, he’s not facing us.” Said the other. “Why not stupefy him?”  
“We can’t. He has protections on his person against it and a few others.” Severus replied.  
“What about sleep spells?” the first twin asked.  
“I am not sure.”  
“You stay here or hide.. umm conceal yourself or something, while we try that. If it doesn’t work, well, you’ll know won’t you.”

With that rhe twins slinked off to the side, to try out their sleep spell theory. George was going to perform the spell while Fred would get the boys away from the Dark Lord.

But apparently, the griffin had had enough of the Dark Lord scaring the two boys. With a roar it jumped towards the Dark Lord, shimmering mid-air and increasing in size as it fell. Distracted, the Dark Lord did not feel the dragon climbing up his robes and curling around his bald head, making him fall unconscious.  
“Well, that’s another way to do it.” George said, coming out of the nearby hedge, Fred behind him.

Draco fell to his knees, no longer having the strength to keep himself upright. He was hyperventilating. Harry kneeled and wrapped his arms around the shaking boy. Severus rushed to them, checking them over and gathering them in his arms. Draco his his face in Harry’s chest, while the boy soothed him. The Weasley twins kept an eye on the Dark Lord, thought it seemed that whatever the dragon was doing, it was keeping the Dark Lord in a sleep state.

“We should go to Gringotts. Whatever happened to him was not brought about normally.” Harry spoke up, still wrapped around the blonde boy.  
“As soon as Draco is calmed down, we shall.” Severus said.  
“Calming draught”, Draco croaked from within his cocoon, “give me a calming draught.”  
Severus sighed through his nose, but pulled out a vial containing the said potion from his robes.

Soon Draco had stopped shaking. The twins pulled up the Dark Lord between them, covering him with Harry’s invisibility cloak. Severus apparated the two boys to Gringotts, the twins following along with the unconscious form of the Dark Lord.  
Severus went to talk to the main teller at the bank, and soon they were ushered into a meeting room where Shieldback was already waiting for them.

“Greetings Shieldback.” Harry said. The goblin gave the boy one of his full grins, showing all his sharp, jagged teeth.

“Greetings young one. What have you gotten yourself into, this time?” he asked.

“Tom Marvolo Riddle aka The Dark Lord, seems to be under influences not good for him or us. And he needs help. I know you do not wish to entangle yourself in the ‘stupid stick waving idiots' war', but I have something in my grasp that can prove that this war is farce covering up something more sinister.” Harry replied. “I think Tom Marvolo Riddle is under illegal influence and has done all that he has under said influence.”

There was a stunned silence in the room. Shieldback took a big breath and said, “where is the... Tom Marvolo Riddle now?”

Harry simply removed the cloak covering the unconscious form of the Dark Lord. “My familiar is keeping him unconscious. I don’t now how.”

Shieldback nodded to him, and called for the two goblins standing guard outside the room. They all spoke in rapid gobbledegook and one of the guards rushed off outside.

“I have sent Ragnoth to inform our healers to prepare the cleansing ritual. If you would follow Rognak and I, we shall take you there. I believe all of you should go through this ritual, especially you Master Snape, it may help in the removal of a certain tattoo.” Shieldback growled lowly. “Moreover, you Mister Potter, still have to claim your inheritance.”

Severus nodded. “We shall do as you recommend Shieldback, and after the rituals, we’ll see to Harry gaining his inheritance.”

“Very well. Come along then. We shan’t waste anymore time.” Shieldback replied.

~~***~~

The rituals were a mess. Severus had come out of it shaking, his power level risen and may rise even more in the future. There were blocks on his mind magic capabilities and his magic core too. His dark mark had faded quite a lot, the goblin healers were sure it would be gone by the end of the day if not within the next few hours. He had come out as the Lord Prince too. An old charter of the family stating him legitimate to hold the title as his grandfather had not gone through the legal process of disowning his mother. Wizards still thought simply blasting someone off the family tree worked. Fools the lost of them.

Draco had not changed much, but the ritual had helped him rid of a few small compulsions he had on him. Most of them related to hating anything Gryffindor and spouting off ridiculous pure blood non sense. He felt lighter than he ever had.

The most changed out of them were the Weasley twins. They had grown in height, now reaching 6 feet 2 inches from their previous 5 feet 8 inches. Their hair had turned from ginger red to mostly an auburn shade. Their features resembling those of lords of the old. But at heart they were still pranksters. They were now Lords Prewett too, as the seat could only be held by twins, as was mentioned in the family charters of old. Turns out Prewetts had a history of having twins every generation.

Severus and the now Prewett twins accepted their lordships but Harry waited for the Dark Lord to be brought out his ritual chamber. Draco had his heir ring with him which easily accepted him now that he had no compulsions affecting him. So they waited for the Dark Lord to come.

Hours later, the Dark Lord was brought out on a hovering bed, the goblin healers asked them to follow him, as they took him to a room further into the bank corridors.

“Mister Marvolo here is suffering from the after effects of splitting his soul too many times. We have found all but one part of his soul. Which seems to be not in the reach of the man himself, as he does not recall splitting it a seventh time.” The healer said as he set the bed in a room, casting monitoring charms and such on the man laying on it.

”You were right Mister Potter in saying that he was under influence to do all that e has. We have found a complex net of compulsions, manipulations and such on his being. So deep rooted that they were almost killing him. He was set up to die sooner rather than later from all these machinations. Now, he will take time to recover, as there are some complications while removing these spells from him. There are a few left, which only he can break through as they are a sort of maze in his mind scape you can say. Be assured that he will recover, how much, that depends on him. We are keeping him here under observation till then. Also, I was asked to inform you that measures have been taken for your stay here for the time period it takes Mister Marvolo to wake up. Mister Potter, your familiars helped us during the ritual, so we have sent them to recuperate in out lower areas. They will return to you as soon as they have recovered.”

The healer looked at them, taking in their shocked faces.  
“Now, if any of you have any questions, you can reach me through Shieldback. It was a pleasure doing business with you. I was immensely pleased by this challenge regarding the well being of Mister Marvolo. I shall take your leave now. All the reports are with Shieldback, you can take copies of them from him. Good day to you sirs.”

With that, the healer left the stunned silent quartet in the room with one still unconscious Dark Lord.  
They turned to look at him properly and took in a collective breath. Gone was the snake like visage and in its place the handsome face of a much younger Tom Marvolo Riddle was present.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really very sorry for the delay..
> 
> All mistakes are mine.. leave me your feedback.. :)


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am back!!!

As far as the eye could see, which was quite far at the moment, Tom Marvolo Riddle only saw white, also he couldn't see his wand. He tried walking in different directions, not that he could tell exactly what or which direction. After what seemed hours of walking about aimlessly, he grew tired of this fruitless endeavour.

He then did what he had never done in his life. Tom sat down in a random spot of whiteness, waiting for someone or something to come help him.

~~***~~

Merope Gaunt looked at her son, sitting and waiting for help in the endless white. She knew only she could be of any help to him. But how was she to face her only son who might loathe her. Would he even recognise her? Would he accept her help?

She had never been the most confident girl or woman when she was alive. But this was her son, who had been through rough times without anyone to look up to or to look after him. He had waded his way through tough times, alone, not trusting anyone after what that blasted Headmaster had done to him. She had seen it all, seen him suffer through it all, and she had not been able to help, not even when he had turned away from the darkness which tempted him so. So this was her chance to do something for him, for her son. She had been given a chance to help her son once in his life, to help him become what he was, and to rid of the persona forced on him. So she took a deep breath fortifying herself, and walked towards her son. She slowly grew into a corporeal form, as corporeal as Mother Magick would allow her.

Her son looked up on hearing her footfalls. She saw his eyes widen in recognition and then his expression hardening into a sneer. Her eyes teared up seeing the pain his son hid behind the expression of hatred and contempt. And she could not hold back any longer. She rushed to him, falling to her knees in front of him and throwing her arms around him. She kissed his face, trying to take him in all at once, his eyes so much like hers, his features so much like his father, who was a father only biologically. How she hated that man for abandoning her and her son. She hated herself more, but she would do it all over again if it meant having birthed a son so talented like Tom. She loved him dead or alive.

"Thomas, oh my dear Thomas. Mother has missed you so, I have loved you so much. How I wish I were alive to guide you through life. Never a day has passed that I didn't watch you. You are so strong my child, such strength. Oh my child, I am so sorry, I left you alone." She cried into the shoulder of her son, who was still in shock at seeing his mother who was now embracing him something fierce. It felt like a dream to him.

The broken shards of his heart seemed to fuse together, he was unable to respond in any way, his mind blank. His arms as though acting on their own, came up to wrap around his mother, who tightened her hold on him even more as she felt his arms around her. Tears fell from his eyes for the first time in his life 

~~***~~

Harry was sitting beside Tom's bed in the goblin's healing wing. He was lost in his own world, wondering when he had accepted the unconscious man and also the Potions Master as his parents. He knew Tom and Severus did not remember anything about him or any related parts of their lives. But he had accepted them. He had always wanted a family, or someone who would take him away from his relatives, who now he knew were in no way related to him. He would take living with The Dark Lord over his relatives. Though he wasn't sure if The Dark Lord was actually a Dark Lord.

It did not matter to him. He had family, even if they didn't remember him. 

His inheritance was another thing he was not waiting to go through. He knew that would just create more problems, you can call it a hunch.

He looked at the unconscious man, his father, one of them. He looked so peaceful in this state, rested. His hand moved of its own volition and he took hold of his father's hand closest to him. Wishing him to wake up. Hoping maybe he would remember, maybe he could help his other father remember too. 

And then Tom screamed.

~~***~~

Severus made his way through the goblin's research wing which was basically extended part of their healing wing. He was intrigued by their healing methods and more so by their potions which were far more superior than the wizards. Only if he would be allowed to study them, that would be something else altogether, quite possibly the best thing to happen to him. He did respect them for handling all the gold of the wizards, and they could basically destroy them if they one day up and left the banking to the wizards themselves. Though men like Lucius Malfoy may survive it. Smirking to himself, he went off to the room where Marvolo was being kept under observation.

Now that tere was another shocking revelation for him, married to The Dark Lord, and not only that, he had a child with him to. And on top of that, the child was none other than Harry Potter, the Savior of the Wizarding World, the Boy-Who-Lived. Severus scoffed at the absurdity of it all. Never had he thought about actually having a family, a child to call his own. He wished he could remember the one he apparently had, remember his life, remember all he had. Curse that old fool for taking it all away from him, damn him to hell.

He leaned against the wall of Marvolo's room, not realising that he had reached, trying to calm his turbulent thoughts. Then a scream startled him, and it was coming from Marvolo's room.

~~***~~

Tom Marvolo Riddle felt his horcruxes slamming back into him one after the other. The pain he felt was indescribable, it was as though he was broken both mentally and physically and then put back together only to be shattered and again forced back together. It was not simply painful, it was agonising. And he screamed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I know it's been a long long long time since I last updated.. yeah.. that's going to be a thing now.. real life is not cooperating.. so.. I'll be updating randomly and sporadically.. but I will be updating.. I won't drop this midway..you'll just have to be a bit patient...  
> And oh my god!!! You guys are so amazing leaving me kudos and bookmarking and everything... I love you all.. I hope you loved this chapter too.. leave me your feedback... :* :D <3


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> M not exactly happy with this.. but I couldn't improve on it at the moment... But here you go.. another chapter for you lovelies.. :)

Severus, with a few goblin healers, rushed to the room. Severus saw Harry standing by the bed, one hand pressed to his forehead, the other in Marvolo's grasp, which seemed to be bordering on bone breaking if the whiteness of their hands was anything to go by. Trusting Marvolo to the goblin healers, Severus turned to Harry. He pried the teen's hand from Marvolo's grasp, which was when he notices the blood seeping through Harry's fingers on the hand pressing to his forehead.

"Your scar is bleeding." Severus stated, but Harry nodded anyway. "Hurts too." The teen said.  
"I need a healer here!" Severus shot out, eyes still on Harry's scar.  
Harry was scared, his scar had started hurting the moment Tom began screaming. There was a tugging sensation too, as if something inside him wanted to burst out.

One of the goblin healers suddenly pushed at Severus to move him out of the way, and Harry choked back a cry. Severus kept his hold on the had which had been holding Marvolo's hand earlier. The goblin muttered something in gobbledegook and promptly choked on air as he saw the results which materialised in his hands. He harshly called for another goblin and thirst the results at him. The second goblin went white on seeing the results. Now Harry was scared and Severus was growing impatient.  
"Speak goblin." He growled at the two standing in front of him.

The two goblins gathered themselves up. The first one said, "It appears we missed checking for something the previous time Mr Potter was here. It so happens that The Dark Lord has..." Here he gulped loudly, "he has unknowingly made another horcruxes which resides in Mr Potter."

Severus was shocked. He looked towards Harry, then Marvolo, who was still screaming and writhing, the goblin's trying to understand what was happening to the man, and back to the goblin's standing in front of him. He schooled his features and said, "How do we get it out of him, as painlessly as possible?"  
"There is a way, a ritual to be precise." The second goblin said. "But it's neither painless nor safe for anyone. It was created by our ancestors. We cannot guarantee it working or any chance of survival. We also need a parent of Mr Potter's or someone he considers to be a parent."  
"What if we had both his parents, will that work in our favour?" Severus asked.  
The goblin's were confused, weren't the boy's parents dead?   
"If I may," the first goblin asked, "who are these parents?" "Myself and The Dark Lord." Severus replied unhesitatingly.  
The goblin's were stunned silent. That meant more inheritance tests and more purging for the young teen. Also, The Dark Lord had a son, with the youngest Potions Master of the world. How did no one come to know of it?  
"It may help, but we are still not very sure of it." The second goblin replied.  
"Well then what are we bumbling around for? Get to it." Severus snapped.

Harry whimpered suddenly,gaining Severus'attention, as the pain in his scar rocketed. His tearful expression reminding Severus of another boy with the same expression, and something broke inside of Severus. The man shook his head, clearing away his sporadic thoughts.  
"Harry," he said. "I'll make sure everything will be alright, but I need you to trust me to do good for you." He wiped away the tears which had fallen unbidden down the teen's cheeks. Still whimpering, Harry simply nodded.  
And then he fainted from the pain.

~~***~~

When harry came to, he was lying in a bed similar to Tom's. Speaking of which, it seemed like he was sharing the room with both his parents. He looked around for someone else, slowly pushing himself up, his bones creaked as if he was 150 and not 15.  
"I see that you have woken up Mr Potter."  
Harry's turned his head so fast, it was a wonder he didn't get a jerk in his neck for that.  
Shieldback was standing in the doorway, his arms clasped loosely behind him.  
"You have shocked us all Mr Potter." The goblin said, "the ritual was an experimental one, never used before, not that anyone had ever tried making horcruxes, and yet here you are, whole and healthy and horcrux free."  
Harry touched his now faint scar, as Shieldback looked over at the other occupants of the room. "I am sure you would like to see how you look now that you have gained your original appearance back." And with that he snapped his fingers, a mirror appearing before Harry.  
Harry's hair were now a bit smoother and had waves to them, rather than the bird's nest he used to have. His eyes had changed to a more teal like colour with black speckles throughout. His nose a short straight one like his father's, but the lips below it were thin like his papa. His colouring was somewhere between the pale of his papa and the faint tan of his father. His face shape was all his father. He felt and looked taller, his fingers long and elegant. He looked like the perfect mix of his papa and father....wait what?  
He shook his head, dispelling the traitorous thoughts from his mind. It would not do well for him to get attached so soon. What if they didn't remember him? What if they never remember him? What was he to do then? No, they shall stay Severus and Marvolo till they remember him. Firm in his resolve, harry nodded to himself, but still lost in his new looks.  
A groan to his right gained both his and Shieldback's attention. Severus was twitching and was quite possibly half awake.  
Shieldback called for the much needed healers for Harry and Severus. Then he went on his way. He was furious with the so called light side of the war. He had seen the expression on the teen's face, he had an inkling to what he might be thinking. If only the light side understood that Magick needed both light and dark to thrive, that their leader was no better that Grindelwald, after all they did share their 'visions' for both the magical and non-magical community. Of course he was going to help the three he had left in the room. And he knew they would need their help. The goblin king too, for the first time, was interested.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Changes might be made to this chapter... Also.. if any of you wish to read about the ritual.. I need some time to hash out all the details cause I don't wish to put up something unfulfilled.. so yeah.  
> Hope you enjoyed.. leave me your kudos and feedbacks.. :) <3


	16. Chapter 16

Severus was somewhere between awake and half sleep when he heard the voice. It was soft and commandeering at the same time, like dark chocolate that melts in your mouth slowly leaving a bitter tang behind. Hooking onto the voice as a tether, Severus brought his mind to wakefulness, although his limbs were still sleep heavy. Looking at the man before him, he was shocked to silence. The man was tall, perhaps taller than him, his face held recognition for him, which seemed just out of his reach. His features were handsome, sharp straight nose, full lips, brilliantly coloured eyes of a turquoise green with pupils ringed by red. And wasn’t that peculiar, the only one he knew with red in their eyes was the Dark Lord. A sudden realisation slammed into him as he realised he was looking at the handsome face of the Dark Lord himself. Sitting up at once made his head swim alarmingly, a gentle hand gave him support as he gathered his equilibrium. Slowly opening his eyes, not realising he had closed them, Severus looked at the now vastly different looking Dark Lord.

“Surprised, Severus? After all I did gain my old looks, I understand they are quite shocking, though I can’t say I am displeased.” The Dark Lord smirked at him.

Hearing that voice did something to Severus, his mind trying to reach at something just out of its grasp. It was infuriating to him, his brain was supposed to be a well organised library and not this jumbled mess. This could only mean one thing, someone had tampered with his memories. Only one name came to mind at this thought, Albus Dumbledore. He heard the Dark Lord scoff, and looked up towards him.

“Yes, the bumbling old fool has done quite a number on our memories Severus. Making us forget our own child. The goblins say that now that we are free of the additional enchantments on us, the memories will gradually resurface. Forcing the memories will be more harmful than helping.” Here the Dark Lord sighed, it was such a human thing to do, Severus did not expect it from the Dark Lord. “Harry has been staying away from our rooms since he woke up. Its quite frustrating, seeing our prospective child acting so distant.”

The Dark Lord turned to him, “I know you are quite confused Severus, but the ritual to get me back my soul pieces has helped me immensely, hence the more… human approach. I know you don’t understand, maybe you won’t until you get our memories back. I haven’t either, but I hope we will get out memories back soon, for I don’t want Harry to suffer more than he has to.”

Swallowing drily, Severus wracked his brain for words, but none came to him. He thumped back on the bed in an uncharacteristic show of helplessness. He was too wound up, too bewildered by all that was going on.

“Do you believe we will get our memories back, My Lord?” he asked.

“Yes Severus, I do believe we will, if for nothing else, then for the sake of Harry, I will even force my memories to resurface. For even if I don’t remember the boy, he has already taken a special place in my heart.” He smiled softly at the dour Potion’s Master.

“How long was I unconscious?” Severus asked.

“Not too long, I believe it has been a few hours since you completed the ritual. Incidentally, the horcrux which was in Harry has merged with my other soul shards. The pain I went through was due to the fact that not all my soul shards ad returned, and that one of the shards was stuck in limbo. I believe it was the shard embedded in my diary.”

“Where is Harry now?” the dour man asked.

“I believe he left as soon as he could. I understand his reasoning, though I can understand the pain he is going through because we don’t remember him. Severus, you and I never had any hope of getting a decent family, mine didn’t want me and despised me, yours was less than unqualified to take care of you. Harry, he has had his adoptive parents killed by me, his relatives abusing him, and now that he knows that his real family is still alive, he has to face the fact that they don’t remember him and they might never remember him. Severus, just for Harry, so that he doesn’t go through life bitter as we did, I want my memories back and for that reason only, I say again, that I will force them to resurface.” The Dark Lord said solemnly.

Severus was shocked by the more humane side he was seeing of the Dark Lord. But he couldn’t say he disagreed with what was being said.

~~***~~

Harry wandered listlessly around the corridors of the goblin’s healing wing, his thoughts a turbulent mess. He had escaped the rooms provided for his parents and him as soon as he was given the all clear by healer goblins.

His thoughts wandered again and again to his parents who did not remember him, and those who had died for him, even if he was not their son. Harry was feeling very vulnerable, his emotions were haywire, his moods sporadically changing. He thought back to the days he had dreamed of having a family, locked in the cupboard under the stairs, wishing for a family to come get him, take him away from his dreaded relatives. And then Hogwarts had happened, giving him a respite from them, providing him a home away from home, though Privet Drive had never been a home for him in any sense of the word.

He had never once imagined that he would get a chance at having a family. And apparently, Dumbledore had tried to take that away from him, twice over. If he could, he would kill the man on sight. But that would only do more harm than good. He had trusted the Headmaster from the time he had started at Hogwarts. The man had been somewhat of a grandfather to him, and to find out that he was the reason Harry had lost his family and the other had been killed. And all for what, a measly prophecy? Harry didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. His life was dictated by some sherry induced ramblings of a woman. Harry had never believed in divination, never given much weight to it. Though it seemed Dumbledore had much to lose if he was ready to heed the ambiguous warnings of a prophecy that he was ready to orphan a child twice over.  
He slid down the wall he was leaning against. He wrapped his arms around his legs, resting his head on his knees. Closing his eyes, he let his thoughts drift randomly. It was inevitable that he jumped in fright when two small bodies pressed up against his sides. Looking down, he saw his familiars in their miniature forms, curling around their own body, but their backs were touching Harry. He settled his hands on them and pet them slowly, jerking once again when they suddenly jumped on either of his shoulders and slowly sunk into his skin as tattoos. The reason for their disappearance became clear when Harry saw a few harried goblins heading his way. It seemed his time for introspection was over. Harry slowly got up as the goblins neared him, but when they continued ahead without any indication of seeing him there, he grew a bit apprehensive. Worried about his recently unearthed parents of surreal nature, Harry followed them to the room they had been given.

~~***~~

Fortunately the goblins were relatives of another goblin who had been admitted in the healing wing of Gringotts. Though, for Harry, that meant having to face his parents, which he wasn’t ready for, but which was inevitable. He saw them, Severus was sitting in bed while Marvolo was sitting beside his bed in a chair. It seemed as if they were talking about something serious. They had not seen him yet, but it wouldn’t take much for them to notice him, especially Severus. He took a deep breath and stepped forward, and both of the men turned to him. 

“Harry, you sem to have found your way back to us.” Marvolo said.

“Its good to see you up and about.” That was Severus.

“Its good to see you both awake too.” Harry said, smiling haltingly, he ducked his head after a few awkward moments.

Harry heard one of them sigh.

“I know Harry, that you are very scared of us not remembering you. But believe us when we say, that we will do everything in our power to remember you, even if we have to force our memories. We might not remember you now Harry, but we already feel connected to you, and that is why we are sure child, that we will remember you or die trying.” Marvolo said.

Tears wet Harry’s cheeks, his eyes still downcast. A firm hand pulled him to someone, two pairs of hands helped him on the bed, and Harry was sandwiched between two warm bodies. His tears kept coming, his breath came in short gasps. He held on to the body in front of him, and let go. For once in his life, Harry believed, he believed he would be happy, finally.

~~***~~

It was raining.

Severus looked out the window. It was raining cats and dogs. He was worried. Marvolo had not yet returned. He rubbed a palm over his swollen belly, the baby was restless and kicking. He had already been to the bathroom too many times to count. Where was Marvolo? He was supposed to be back two hours ago. He slowly stood up and started pacing, maybe he would get tired and then so would the baby.

A chime at the door broke his train of thought. Walking as fast as he could in his state, he went to the door and opened it.

Marvolo stood outside, waiting for his husband to greet him. He gathered Severus in his arms as he entered the house. Planting a solid kiss on his husband’s lips, he kneeled down in front of him and gave a kiss to his belly, where his child rested. He had been so happy when the potion had worked. Their magical cores were compatible, but there was always a chance of it not working. But as Severus had created the potion himself, Marvolo had strong confidence on the potion and in his husband’s capabilities.

He heard Severus speaking, but it was as if he was speaking underwater. He looked up at him, and even he seemed perplexed. Everything looked muddled, slowly blurring as though looking through a frosted glass.

And then he opened his eyes.

~~***~~

Their eyes met, both glassy as though holding back tears. There was shock too. They hadn’t realised when they had fallen asleep. Looking down, Harry was still asleep between them. Someone must have checked on them as they were now laying on a bigger bed than earlier. Maybe being in close quarters with their son had triggered the memory. Their hands had found the other in sleep; they lay entwined on their son’s arm. They looked like a family. Although on the mend, they were sure all would heal soon. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> short chapter i know.. m writing more.. its a slow going but it is going on.. i hope you guys liked it.. will get back with more soon.. on a different note.. m still not sure about the pairings other than severus and marvolo.. so if any of you have any ideas or suggestons for me.. do share.. thanks for reading.. love you all.. also.. thanks so much for all the kudos and comments you guys leave me.. they make me work harder on the story.. have a nice day.. see you all next time.. :* :)


	17. Chapter 17

Fred and George Prewett were holed up in the room provided for them by the goblins. The past few days had left their world shaken up and now it was sinking in. They had always believed that not all that they saw was true. But it would be so different from what was being shown, that was what had thrown them off.

“Do you think Bill and Charlie would be willing to listen to us?”, Fred asked.

“That only they would know. But we have to try Freddy, we can’t give up without trying.”, George said.

Fred nodded, it was only a matter of contacting their elder brothers. They hoped that they would listen to them. After that, if they were amiable, they could talk to the Dark Lord, if he was really one, and see what could be done to rectify the wrongs done to numerous people by Dumbledore. They had a feeling, that the Dark Lord and Snape were not the only one to lose their child to the ministrations of the Headmaster. They hoped, that there would not be too many of them.

They wrote a letter to their brothers, asking them to meet with them in Gringotts itself, thinking that maybe the neutral territory of goblins would help somewhat. They had understood from the interactions of their younger siblings with the Headmaster that maybe they were in the know or had somewhat of an idea of what was going on. Percy was too deep in the Ministry’s thrall, and they couldn’t trust him to not go running to some ministry hot shot about the matter, if they were to tell him.

They sent their letters through the goblins themselves, less chances of someone intercepting them. Now all they had to do was wait.

~~***~~

William Weasley loved Egypt. The sun, the sand and the curse filled crypts. He had come here to get away from his mother. Don’t get him wrong, his mother was a wonderful..well mother. But at times she could be overbearing and interfering. It seemed as though she had his life planned out for him or something. So when he got the opportunity to work with the goblins, he ran with it and he ran fast. The trips to other countries, being out of reach of his mother were just bonuses.

It was just another day in his life. He had worked on the tomb of a famous pharaoh. The curses were advanced for their time and had made him work hard. These were the kinds of days he loved, where he worked to his capacity and then some more. Solving the riddle, dissolving the curses, just another amazing day of work. Many would think he was working for the payment he would get after the work was done, but he loved his job for the new things he could discover, new curses, new ways to solve old riddles. That is what he loved.

He was in his tent after such a day. He was bone tired but satisfied. Going through his goblin provided mail box, he saw a letter from George. Setting the others aside for the moment, he opened that first. He was not expecting such a short missive from his brother.

_Bill,_

_Certain things have come to light which involve our sable haired brother. We need to talk and have asked the goblins to provide us rooms for our meeting. We have sent a letter to Charlie too and would like to meet both of you at the same time._

_George_

The letter was nothing Bill would expect from his brother. He should talk to Charlie, he thought.

~~***~~

Charlie had finished reading a similar letter from Fred when the floo in his quarters chimed. He looked at it to see Bill’s head floating in the green fire.

“You wanna come through?”, he asked.

“No thanks. Did you get a letter from Fred and George as well?”, Bill ased.

“Yeah, Fred wrote to me. He said they had something to tell us and that they had written to you. Sable haired brother must mean Harry. What do you think?”, Charlie mused.

“Yeah I thought so too. Should we reply to them together?”, Bill asked.

“Yeah. What day would be best? You could send them the meeting time through the goblins, couldn’t you?”

“That would be best. Tomorrow good for you?”

“Yeah, I’ll travel by floo form the Gringotts branch here to London.”

“I was thinking the same.”  
“Well then, that’s that. See ya tomorrow, Bill.”

“See you tomorrow, Charlie.”

The brothers disconnected their floo. Wondering what tomorrow would bring.

~~***~~

_Fred, George_

_We shall see you tomorrow at Gringotts. Will let you know when we arrive._

_Bill, Charlie_

The twins had received the letter late last night. They were waiting with bated breath for when their brothers would contact them about reaching the bank. They were also worried about what they would think about their Lordships. All in all, the twins had never been so nervous in their lives.

George had started pacing by the time they received Bill’s patronus, informing of their arrival. They rushed as fast as they could to the entrance hall of the bank. They jerked to a stop on seeing their brothers standing there. They looked at each other and nodded resolutely. Taking a deep breath, they both started walking towards their elder brothers with matching steps.

“Hey guys.” They said as one.

The eldest Weasley brothers turned to them and almost did a double take at their appearance.

“Fred, George? You look different.” Bill said.

Fred scratched the back of his head. “Yeah it’s one of the things we wanted to talk to you about.”

“It was recently brought to our attention. But we should wait until we are behind doors. This cannot leave Gringotts until the parties involved allow it. Us telling you is already a big breach we are committing against them.” George said.

“You should take us to _Raven_ , if we have understood you correctly.” Charlie said.

“Okay, but promise us, you’ll keep an open mind about everything.” Fred said.

The elder Weasleys looked to each other and then nodded to the Prewetts.

~~***~~

Fred and George had sent a missive to Harry through the goblins and now they were waiting for him in the room provided to them. 

The door opened to reveal not only Harry, but Severus and Marvolo too. On seeing Snape, the elder Weasleys were in shock, but they were more so shocked on seeing the unknown man with them. Who was he and what was he doing with Harry and their Potion’s Master?

“Hey guys.” Harry said, looking down as soon as they met his eyes.

“Hey Harry”, Bill said. “Fred and George wanted to tak to us about something related to you. Do you want them to talk to us?”

“If they trust you, I trust you.” said Harry, still looking towards his shoes.

Everyone in the room was shocked by the timid statement of the teen. Never had they expected the words that came out of his mouth. This was yet another surprise the bit had given them. To have such loving, trusting heart after how his relatives had treated him, was perplexing to them all.

Hurried footsteps echoing through the hallway turned their attention away from the raven haired teen. The door was pushed open by Draco who made a bee-line for Harry, standing by his side, an arm around his shoulders.

Harry looked up at him and gave him a small smile. Draco simply tightened his hold on him, and looked at the four red heads calmly.

Seeing Draco support Harry was yet another shock to the two Weasleys. They were not so sure that they now wanted know what their brothers wanted to share with them. But at the same time, they wanted to know what was going on.

They looked towards their brothers, now waiting for what they would say. And it was not what they had ever expected.

~~***~~

William and Charlie Weasley had taken everything quite calmly if they were to say so. But their mind was in shambles, everything they had ever known was all fabricated. They didn’t know if they could even trust what their brothers were saying.

Bill looked at Harry, who was now sitting opposite to them on the couches in the room. The boy was almost curled in on himself, as if expecting they won’t believe them. The Malfoy boy was sitting with him, his arm still around Harry. The blank face that Harry supported was what broke his heart. He had known the boy to show his emotions on his face, but his blank expression was something alien. He got up from his chair and went to Harry. He knelt in front of him, and took his hands in his own.

“I am with you Harry. You are my brother, and apparently more than Ronald could ever be.” he said. “You can understand I hope, that it is difficult for us to accept it so easily. But we will try, you just need to give us some time.”

“Yeah Harry. We believe you, and Fred and George too. We just need some time.” Charlie spoke up beside him.

Harry nodded, looking at them from behind his fringe.

The two Weasleys left the room, going back to their workplace. Charlie looked back at the strange collection of people they had left in the room. The Boy-Who-Lived, the Dark Lord, a Potions Master, a Malfoy, and their twin brothers who were now Prewett Lords. Charlie was sure, coming days would flip the wizarding world on its head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> another chapter.. more characters.. hopefully i can keep up this pace... :P  
> thanks for taking the time to read.. :* :)


	18. Chapter 18

Sirius Black was locked into his own house, and he loathed the man responsible for it. He knew he had gaps in his memories. He was missing something, something important. There was always something missing, something out of his reach, something important had been taken from him. Blasted Headmaster had restricted him too his Merlin forsaken house. If only he could somehow get to Gringotts, he knew the goblins would be able to help him somehow.

And Harry, oh his dear Harry, he could not get in touch with him. The mirror was not working, and that would only happen if he was behind wards strong enough to block its magic. His bond to Harry had been pulling painfully at him, but he couldn’t do anything but suffer. Dumbledore had warded the house to specifically keep him inside. He did not know how long he could ignore the bond before it took action for him, nulling everything else. Maybe that would be better, at least he would be out of this hellhole and with his godson.

Now most wizards think, that once they go through their schooling and get help to train their magick, it becomes somewhat of a tool for them to use. They forget, that magick is not something they can control, it has its own mind so to speak. And that is what Sirius Black’s magick did, it swirled around him, latching on to his bond with Harry, and with an apparition like crack, Sirius along with all of his belongings, vanished from 12 Grimmauld Place.

~~***~~

Goblin Healer Mossflower had recently discharged one of her patients, but it seemed that he was still in his room. Frowning at the glitch in her records, she went to check the room herself. There on the bed, with all his worldly possessions scattered around him, was Sirius Black.

The man seemed to be as much shocked as she was, if his open mouthed, wide eyed look was anything to go by. Drawing a steadying breath, Healer Mossflower entered the room, ready for her new patient, who apparently had to be kept away from everyone’s eyes if she had guessed it correctly by the old patient’s name being on her list rather than Lord Black’s. And she would keep it that way unless her patient asks her to do otherwise.

“Now, Lord Black. What seems to be the problem?”, she asked.

She saw Sirius gather himself and then he spoke, “There seem to gaps in my memories, as though I have been obliviated numerous times. Also, there is this emptiness, a hollow of sorts I feel, like there is something just out of my reach and slips through my fingers like sand. It’s…it’s confusing and most of all, it scares me.”

“Very well Lord Black. We goblins have found a regimen of potions and meditative exercises which help our patients regain their obliviated memories better than by getting leglimised. If you are amiable we can so that or if you want to go through to the leglimency route, we can do that too. But, as your healer, I would advise you to go through the potions and meditation route, it is far less taxing on the brain, and had minimal side effects.” Healer Mossflower said.

“I would like to go through the potions and meditation route. As it is, I have had too many creatures and people poking around in my head. I don’t think I would be able to take any more of it.” Sirius rasped, his throat suddenly dry at the mention of leglimency.

Mossflower gave him a goblet of water from the bedside table. “Very well, Lord Black. I am pleased with your choice. Right now, you need rest. We will arrange your belongings, do not worry. You should rest while you can, as the method you have chosen is not an easy one. Ii will send someone to tend to your things shortly. Rest assured, your presence in Gringotts will not leave the healing wing. Do rest now.” With that Healer Mossflower went to get the potions regimen ready and to inform their resident meditation expert about his new student.

She left Sirius Black more relieved than he had ever been in his life, and more confused too, as he had not understood how he had come to be in Gringotts, that too along with all of his belongings.

~~***~~

Harry was sitting with his parents and Draco, the twins had taken some time for themselves after their elder brothers had left. They were talking about this and that to distract themselves from what had been divulged, for the time being. Harry suddenly started to feel this incessant tugging just under his rib cage. Something was pulling at him. He frowned, and stood up. He had never ignored his instinct, it had saved him from Dudley and his friends nary a time. The tugging pulled him towards the door. It lead him through corridors of the healing wing he had yet to explore.

He hadn’t noticed, that his sudden departure had startled his parents and Draco and they were now following him. He was too engrossed in following the tugging feeling to take note of his surroundings.

He had wandered into a part of Gringotts healing wing which he had not yet explored. But he was not even aware of that. His parents followed him worriedly.

“Harry.” A voice made him stand stock still. He looked up, his eyes searching for the source of that voice. An expression of guarded hope was on his face, like he wanted to believe that he had heard that specific voice and that it was not his imagination.

“Harry! It’s really you!”

A warm solid body collided with his, arms wrapped around him tight. It was a different feeling of coming home. Long black curls obscured his vision. But he knew in his bones, that his Godfather was the one who held him. After all, he was the first person he felt inherently drawn to.

Sirius Black held his Godson at arm’s length. He took in his appearance. The boy looked healthy, healthier than he had ever seen him, and he had seen how he looked after the wonderful diet of Molly’s cooking. Now the boy looked as though he had found something he had lost.

Then his attention was brought to the people behind Harry. A flash of recognition in his eyes, and he pushed himself in front of his Godson, shielding him from the trio.

“What are you doing here?” he seethed, not taking his eyes off them. His hand went to his empty forearm, a habit from his auror days, remembering at the last moment that he no longer had a wand. Still undeterred he stood between his Godson and the Dark Lord.

Yes, he knew who he was, it was something he was made privy to by a friend he made amongst the Unspeakables, not that anyone knew about it. He had kept it all in confidence, for once proud of his family, that they taught Occlumency through generations.

The Dark Lord lifted his hands in placation, keeping them in Sirius’ view when Harry spoke up.

“They are here with me.”

Sirius looked at his Godson in shock.

“They are not who you think Harry. He is..”

“The Dark Lord. Yes, I know. I also know things that you don’t know.”

Sirius looked at Harry incredulously, sputtering in indignation. His brain had stuttered to a stop, not able to grasp what he had just heard from his Godson’s mouth.

“What?” he said, his eyes wide as saucers.

“We’ll talk about that momentarily. First tell me how did you get here? Hadn’t Dumbledore confined you magically to Gr.. that dank place?”

Sirius snapped his mouth shut. Turning to his Godson, he said “I don’t know. I was at the house and then I was here.”

He grabbed Harry’s hand, his expression devastated, “Harry, I have been having these gaps in my memory, these blank spaces. I was worried. I was worried for you. Dumbledore would not even tell me anything about you, and he had ordered others to not tell me either. Thank Merlin I gave you that mirror or else I would have gone crazy in there.”

“I’m here Siri, I’m here.” Harry mumbled into his shoulder.

He again had his arms around Harry, holding him with such desperation as though he was worried that Harry would disappear right then. And Harry held him right back. Both crumbling to the ground, but not letting go of each other.

The others kept a respectable distance, letting the two have their reunion.

~~***~~

Healer Mossflower came to her new patient’s room only to see him talking jovially with his Godson, who until recently was also their patient. She was happy to see them together and talking comfortably. Smiling softly, she entered the room with the prescribed potions for his memory gaps. His meditative part of rehabilitation would start after a few days of the potions’ regimen.

Though for now, it seemed, the man was happy as could be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter did not wish to be written.. m still not happy with it.. :/  
> do tell me how you found it to be.. your reviews make me improve and write better.. xoxo


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so after long weeks of exams presentations and flu.. i am back... :P

Honestly, Severus did not know why he felt so hurt on seeing Harry in the arms of Black. He was his Godson, but wasn’t Harry his _son_. Something deep down was pinching him, like a long forgotten bond, which had thinned under the beating of distance and time. His heart ached, for seeing his son in someone else’s arms. That too his school time tormentor, someone who could have been the reason for him losing his life. He had left the room once he was sure that Harry was safe and truly happy with Black. He almost ran back to the room they had been provided by the goblins. There he paced, his thoughts tumultuous, his mind full of Harry and nothing else. So it was no wonder, that he did not feel himself slip into a memory all of a sudden, eyes rolling back into his skull as he fell.

 

_“You seem restless today.” Marvolo said, setting aside the book he had been reading, his eyes firmly on his pacing husband. Severus had been pacing a lot today, one hand supporting his belly, the other on his lower back, rubbing at it a bit._

_“I’m having these pains since morning. They keep coming back in intervals.” Severus said._

_“And you did not tell me, why?” Marvolo asked, quirking an eyebrow._

_“It was mild a few minutes ago, now m not so sure.” He stopped suddenly, feeling a pop like sensation in his lower abdomen. “Marvolo, call the Healer! The baby is coming.” With that, it was a flurry of action._

_Marvolo sent a patronus to their healer, asking him to come at once. Then he helped his husband to the room they had prepared specifically for this reason. Laying him down on the bed, he went about getting the things ready, as the healer had asked him to beforehand. By the time he was done, the healer had arrived. He was asked to remain by his husband’s side as the baby would need them both while its magick stabilised as soon as it was born._

_After two hours, their baby boy was born. His magick swirling around the three of them as the healer left he room to let them bond._

_“Did you think of a name?” Severus asked, his eyes not leaving the face of their baby boy._

_“How does Erasmus sound?” Marvolo asked, he too entranced by the sight of their sleeping boy._

_“Eugene Erasmus Riddle?” Severus said._

_“Eugene Erasmus Snape-Riddle, our beautiful boy.”_

_Marvolo gathered them both close, placing a chaste kiss on Severus’ lips and kissing his baby boy’s head. He felt peaceful._

 

With a gasp both Severus and Marvolo woke up. They were laid side by side on their bed. The Prewett twins and Draco stood beside their bed. Harry was sitting on a chair, looking at them with worry filled eyes. At the same time, they both reached out a hand to him. He took hold of them both. Severus and Marvolo pulled him between them on their bed.

“Eugene”, Severus whispered. “Your name is Eugene Erasmus Riddle.”

Marvolo snorted inelegantly. “Eugene Erasmus Snape-Riddle.” He said, looking at his husband, indicating that he too had had the same memory resurface.

They both grinned at each other in childish glee as their son sagged in between them. They held him all the more tightly. Vowing to each other and themselves, that now that they had found him, they were not letting him go. Ever again.

~~***~~

Dumbledore spun his wand between his fingers. His face filled with disappointment. He had tried locating Harry with a blood ritual and then he had tried scrying. But none had got him any results, which was surprising because the blood was fresh as it could be. Oblivate was quite a handy spell, Lockhart had learnt from the best. Sadly the man was too mad about being in the spotlight, and it has gone to his head, bringing him to his grisly end. Well, that wouldn’t happen to him, he was too clever for the lot of them, stupid wizards, following him around like sheep. Too gullible, too naïve, gobbling up his words like starving beggars.

But this was not the time to get distracted. He had more important matters to attend to. That Umbridge woman was irritating him too. Maybe he could use the centaurs to get rid of her, after all, she did hate filthy half-breeds. He needed new plan to find Harry. Severus had hidden him too well. Maybe he should try finding Severus, well, Pomphrey would have to bear another obliviate. Not that he cared for any of it, they were all footsteps leading to his glory days.

Then with a flash of light, Fawkes the phoenix vanished, never to be seen again.

~~***~~

Draco sat in the Gringotts provided room, the still unhatched basilisk egg sitting in front of him on his bed. A flash blinded him momentarily. An aqua blue ethereal pheasant sat on his bed, a toad in its beak, gently it laid the toad down on the egg. A lumos lit up in Draco’s head.

“Of course” he said, “A basilisk is born from a chicken’s egg, hatched beneath a toad.”

As he said that, the egg which was slightly smaller than an emu’s egg, shrunk down to the size of a chicken’s egg. The toad shifted on top of the egg, settling down comfortably. It was so big that it covered the egg completely. Draco looked dumbly at the toad and then at the ethereal bird which had just appeared in his room. What was his life coming to.

~~***~~

Sirius had just woken up from his first dose of potions and meditation exercise that Gringotts had started. Already his long dormant occlumency walls were coming up in full force. There were blurred movements where there used to be memory gaps. He was sure that the treatment was working. Hopefully this only improved and did not regress.

He thought of Harry, and what had been revealed to him about the boy. To think that if his childish prank had killed Snape, the bot he loved would have never been born. He had accepted the fact that Harry was Snape’s son. Though he was believed to be James and Lily’s son, anyone who knew Snape could mistake Harry to be his son, even before, when he looked like a mix of James and Lily. How he had recognized him in his new form would all be due to the bond he had with Harry.

Sirius wanted all the happiness the boy could ever get. If that meant that he would get his parents back in the form of Snape and the Dark Lord, then so be it. Nothing mattered to him more than that boy’s happiness.

~~***~~

A wolf shuffled along its way, sniffing the air and ground in breaks. It made its way slowly in the dark, hot on the trail of its targets. They were in the same place, both of them. That tall white building held them within itself. Now all it had to do was get inside. That his human could do. Now he could rest and let the human take over. With that the wolf slunk back into the darkness, not a shadow of it was seen.

Next morning, Fenrir Greyback came to the Gringotts Bank.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this might go through a few changes but i am happy with it right now.. cya guys soon.. thank you so much for all the kudos and comments.. xoxo


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you see anything wrong, please do tell me.. i hope you enjoy the chapter..

It had been only two days that they had spent in Gringotts. Yet those two days had brought them more revelations than they had ever faced in their entire life. Who had ever known, that all that had seemed to be true was not. He had a new name now, Eugene, it fit him. He looked more like a Eugene than Harry now. True that he had not changed much, but the changes still made him more..himself and less what Dumbledore wanted. Modifying memories and altogether wiping them seemed to be a speciality of the Headmaster.

He would get his due.

His parents were recovering one memory at a time, they did seem chronological, hopefully, one day they’ll be fully restored rather than the snippets they were now. The goblins were going through all of their properties to find them the most secured location for recovery and future residency. He was sure with all the ancient houses they had amassed, something would pop up. Even he wanted to have his own place to call home, Hogwarts was now tainted with unpleasant memories of manipulations and deceit.

He was yet to accept his inheritance fully, he thought, looking down at the chain holding all the rings he was supposed to wear. With that thought, he moved with determination towards the more bank related section of Gringotts. He needed to find a goblin, maybe Shieldback or Griphook would come across his way. He was ready, it seemed, to accept what was and has been always his.

As though someone had heard his wish, he saw Griphook coming down the hallway. Seeing him, the goblin gave a sharp smile.

“Master Shieldback has been asking for you young one, seems like it is time.”

Eugene simply nodded, clutching the rings tightly.

~~***~~

Greyback sniffs delicately as he enters the bank. His actual appearance ringing no alarm bells as no one really recognises him. He uses a glamour to scare off people, he is more human than these stupid wizards would ever think him to be. He knew that the Ministry, or at least someone within it was responsible for all the wolf attacks he was blamed for. He had known from the start that nothing would come of trying to defend himself. These dunderheads were never going to believe him. It was as though they wanted something bad to be around, to scare them witless and keep them fearful. So he had hidden his true self away behind glamours when people came across him. Now no one could connect his true looks to his more ‘animalistic’ persona. And he was happy that way.

What most people did not know, that the House of Greyback had always had Werewolves every generation. Sure there were human births too, and they were treated with the same regard their more wolf-like siblings were. There had never been any sort of discrimination between the two. That was until his twin had tried to kill him in his sleep. But Fenrir knew in his heart, that Felix had loved him more than life itself, so surely there was something foul was afoot. He had not interacted with him after that, until the fateful day he came across a human child, who was bleeding from a rogue werewolf bite.

He killed the rogue and went to check on the child, ready to take him into his pack if he survived the bite. Then his brother came, in a fit of rage he attacked Fenrir, and he, not wanting to hurt his brother, left the place. He kept an eye on the child who had survived. He was a strong wolf, but the hatred he faced in his own home turned him into a meek kitten. It boiled his blood, but he vowed that he would one day find the pup and help him accept all of who he is.

He pulled himself out of his thoughts when his mate bond tugged at him. He had accepted the fact that he did not have a mate when his mate bond lay dormant past two decades. Its active status either meant that his ate had been born or had come into some sort of inheritance which opened their mate bond to him. So he had followed where his bnd took him and here he was, in Gringotts of all places.

He went to a teller, thinking of requesting a mate bond reading, o that he may know the name of his mate, and if they were here, maybe he could meet them too.

“Pardon me, Master Teller. I am in a need for a mate bond reading, I was wondering if you could assist me with it.” He said.

The goblin teller looked up and sneered. “And who, if I may ask, would be requesting it?” he asked.

Fenrir leaned a bit closer to the teller, “Fenrir Greyback of the Olde House of Greyback.”

The countenance of the goblin changed in an instant. He sharply called for one of the guard goblins, whom he sent off within the bank with a missive he had quickly jotted down on a piece of parchment. Within moments the guard goblin came back and spoke in harsh gobbledegook with the teller. The teller nodded sharply, turning to Fenrir he spoke, “If you would follow Gnarnoc here, he would take you to the appropriate office.”

Fenrir inclined his head politely and then followed Gnarnoc, the guard goblin, deep into the bank. When they at last stopped in front of a door, it read, Baneberry, Head of Department, Bonds. The guard goblin opened the door for him and motioned him inside. Entering the office, he saw a female goblin of all things, sitting behind the desk. Now don’t get him wrong, he held healthy respect for women, after all the previous alpha or head of his house was his grandmother, who had sadly outlived her children due to the first wizarding war. He was simply shocked at seeing a female goblin as they were rarely seen. 

“I was told you asked for a bond reading Mr Greyback.” Goblin Baneberry said from her seat behind the desk.

“Yes ma’am. It is a new development and I thought it would be easier to find my mate if I knew their name.” he replied.

“Very well, but I do hope you will tell them who you really are, Mr Greyback.”

“Of course ma’am. They are my mate, I will do right by them.”

Baneberry looked at him for a tense moment or two. She gestured him to take a seat. She took out a parchment and a blood quill.

“Write your name with this quill on the parchment, simultaneously, push a bit of your magic into the parchment, then we shall have some results for us.” The goblin said.

Fenrir was a bit apprehensive about the blood quill, but he picked it up and did as instructed. The parchment soaked up the blood written name and slowly, two names formed on the parchment from the same blood.

 

_Fredrick Prewett_   
_George Prewett_

 

Fenrir’s wolf yipped in joy inside of him. Now they knew the names, they could find their mates. Fenrir himself was shocked. Years of not having a mate and now he gets two of them, and by their names, they seemed to be brothers.

He didn’t see Baneberry smirking at him. ‘He’s going to have his hands full with these two.’ She thought.

~~***~~

On the other end of the hallway opposite from Baneberry’s office hallway, Eugene sat in front of Shieldback. The rings were now off the chain he had them on. They sat in front of him on the desk as he waited for the goblin’s instructions.

Shieldback handed him a needle thin blade and said, “Prick your right ring finger on this and then rub a drop of blood on the rings one by one. Then put them on the same finger one after the other. They will merge to form a single ring representing all your lordships.”

Eugene did as instructed, albeit a bit apprehensively. The rings glowed briefly when the blood was rubbed onto them. He then put them on his right ring finger one by one, where they shrunk to fit his finger and then merged with the ring previously put on. In the end he had a ring which split into equal parts for the respective lordship stone with their coat of arms emblazoned on it, much like a pie-chart which had equal portions for every component. Harry was mesmerised by it.

“Only you will be able to see the different coats of arms, to the rest it will appear as a simple ring with different stones attached to it.” Shieldback explained.

Eugene nodded, still looking at his ring. He kind of liked it, to be honest. It was unique, certainly, but wearing it made him feel powerful, magically even.

He smiled softly.

~~***~~

Albus Dumbledore had called for a meeting of the Order of Phoenix. It consisted of those he knew were firmly on his side, and they were not many. The disappearance of Sirius had stumped him as he had practically tethered the man to the house. They were now blocked from the house, even he could not enter the house, even though he had been the Secret Keeper to the Fidelius Charm. That confused him and irritated him, and he did not like not knowing the reason for the man’s disappearance.

The knock on his office door brought him out of his musings. “Enter.” He called out.

Molly Weasley was the first one to enter. Following her were her two youngest and the Granger girl who were followed by Doge, Diggle, Dung, Moody, Kingsley, Tonks and Remus. Hagrid’s entrance crowded his office, so he magically expanded it a bit. Dumbledore waved his wand and the door locked and sealed keeping from any noise from escaping. He had already frozen and obscured the portraits so they could not hear or see anything.

But he didn’t know that the former Headmaster Phineas Black had gotten his frame to be charmed impervious to such measures. Being a Slytherin he did not let it be a common knowledge and now he acted as though he was affected by Dumbledore’s spell, ready to hear everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> do leave me your feedback through kudos and comments.. thank you for taking the time to read.. :) xoxo


	21. Chapter 21

Shieldback looked at the boy marvelling at his ring. He smiled, the boy was so young and full of wonder and he had so much on his shoulders. Essentially the fate of the wizarding world rested on what he did from now on. Thank Merlin the truth was out.

“Mr. Snape-Riddle, there is one more Heirship that you have inherited, the Price Heirship.” He said, breaking the boy out of his musings.

“One more Heirship? But we did all the ones on the test I had gone through.” Eugene replied.

“This one did not show up. The blood magick Dumbledore performed on you, concealed all your original inheritances and showed the one’s you got through the Potter and Evans bloodlines. And the Slytherin Heirship showed because when you vanquished the Dark Lord, the laws of conquest made you his heir as he was essentially still alive, and also your father.” Shieldback explained. “Now that the blood magick is undone, when we test you again, we’ll get all your inheritances plus any that might have been have hidden due to the magick. The inheritances will include all you get from your parents, both blood and adoptive.”

“I would like that, to take the test again.” Eugene said. “I want to see what all might have changed now that the blood magick is gone.”

The goblin manager simply nodded and rummaged through his drawers for the required items. Soon the familiar potion and dagger along with a piece of parchment were set in front of him.

“Seven drops in the potion Mr. Snape-Riddle, and we’ll know what else you’ve got in your inheritance.” Shieldback.

Eugene picked up the needle-like blade and pricked his pointer finger. He let seven drops fall into the potion, sucking onto his finger when it was done.

The same loopy writing as before appeared on the parchment, this time it flashed golden after the last word was written.

 

_Name – Eugene Erasmus Snape-Riddle_

_Father – Tom Marvolo Riddle_  
_Bearer – Severus Tobias Snape_

 _Adoptive Father – James Potter_  
_Adoptive Mother – Lily Potter nee Evans_

 _Godfather – Lucius Malfoy_  
_Godfather(s) through Adoption – Sirius Black, Remus Lupin_

 _Godmother – Narcissa Malfoy nee Black_  
_Godmother through Adoption – Alice Longbottom, Andromeda Tonks nee Black_

_Magical Core Colour Level – White Gold_

_Magical Abilities - Parseltongue, Animagi, Blood Magick and Necromancy._

_Lord of –_  
_Ancient and Noble House of Potter_  
_Ancient and Noble House of Evanström_  
_Most Ancient and Noble House of Peverell_  
_Most Ancient, Noble and Revered House of Gryffindor_  
_Most Ancient, Noble and Revered House of Ravenclaw_  
_Most Ancient, Noble and Revered House of Hufflepuff_  
_Most Worshipped House of Emrys_  
_Most Worshipped House of LeFay_

 _Heir of-_  
_Most Ancient, Noble and Revered House of Slytherin_  
_Most Ancient and Noble House of Prince_  
_Most Ancient and Noble House of Black_

“Ah, looks like Mother Magick has blessed you with more family and some gifts Mr. Snape-Riddle.” Shieldback said genially, a small, barely there smile on his face.

And Eugene, he couldn’t be more happier, even if the names added made him feel a bit apprehensive.

~~***~~

Fenrir Greyback could not have felt any more lucky than he did at that moment. After all those years of lonely existence, slowly accepting the fact that he might not have a mate, he had found not one but two mates. His wolf was yipping with joy and he was ard pressed to join in, barely controlling himself. He promised his wolf a long wild run after he found his mates and they accepted him.

Being mated to a werewolf is no easy thing, and given the image he had made for himself, it was going to be hard to convince his mates and not be left broken and half-mad.

‘Enough of this negativity.’ He thought to himself, ‘I need to find out who are Fred and George Prewett and all there is to know about them.’

Goblin Baneberry had piqued his interest when she had not only smirked in his direction, but told him to go ask the Teller goblins about his mates. He wondered what the she-goblin knew about his mates, that amused her so. With that, Fenrir went off to ask the goblins about the Prewett family.

~~***~~

Eugene wanted to visit his vaults, once he had all the rings and inheritance business sorted out. The vaults he wanted to visit right now were the Heir vaults of the Prince, Black and Slytherin families. He knew the Lordship vauts would be too extensive for him alone and he would need more than a cursory glance. Maybe he could visit them with the others, more people to help and peruse the contents.

Shieldback had sent him off with Griphook. Eugene remembered the goblin from his first time visiting the wizarding world and the bank. His greeting had shocked the goblin a bit, not that he had let it show for long and had reciprocated Eugene’s greeting. The cart ride held the same excitement for Eugene as it did before, even if the rides were a bit longer than usual, especially because of that.

The first vault he was taken to was the Slytherin Heir vault. It was a scatter of gold, gems, books and ornaments that greeted him when he set foot inside. Going through the contents, a few things caught his attention.

There was a silver bracelet, the thickness of his little finger, carved with intricate vine like design. He thought it could just go around past his knuckles. He picked that up because the bracelet was all but dripping with protective magic.  
Other than that, the parseltomgue books held great interest to hi. So he picked all that the vault had in parseltongue and stowed them all in a satchel he found in the vault itself, which turned out to be charmed with the expansion charm.

Moving on, he next went to the Prince Heir vault. This vault was surprisingly well organised. All the gold and other trinkets were show-cased on the left side of the vault and all the books and papers were stacked neatly on the right side.  
Knowing that the books will hold is interest longer, he first moved to the gold, just to give the stacks a cursory glance.

Surprisingly, something caught his eye. It was a gold brooch, in the shape of a cauldron. The brooch too, dripped magic like the bracelet he had found in the previous vault. He picked the brooch up and placed it in the pocket alongside the bracelet. Finding nothing else of interest, he moved on to the books side of the vault. There he found books on potions in abundance. Going through them, he realised most of them were grimoires. He picked those up and a rare book on Parsel potions he spied amongst a pile discarded to the side, which was surprisingly not written in parseltongue. These books went in a different satchel he picked up from the Prince vault itself.

‘Maybe he and Severus could spend some time poring over these potion texts.’ He wondered to himself.

And lastly, he reached the Black Heir vault. It was a scene of controlled chaos, everything was everywhere. It seemed as though each Heir added a layer of possessions to the vault as it was given to them. And he knew the last heir personally. He smiled to himself as he perused through the piles of gold and books and ornaments stacked haphazardly in no particular manner.  
Not much garnered his interest. There was a locket, more like a miniaturised version of an album shaped like a locket. Its chain was beat up, so Eugene changed it out for a sturdier chain he found and placed the locket along with the bracelet and brooch.  
Going through the books, he found one on training one’s Metamorphmagus abilities, that too went in a third satchel he picked up from the current vault. He added a few books he found on Animagus training and some on Blood Magick.  
A hidden nook in the vault caught his attention. There were numerous portraits hung up all the way to the ceiling. He looked at them. His eyes moving around, jumping from one portrait to the other.  
One of the portraits looked very familiar, he moved closer to get a better look at it. It was empty at the moment, but the familiarity of it made his curiosity rise. He gently removed the frame from the wall and stowed it alongside the books.

Heading back outside, he met up with Griphook, who locked the vault for him and they were off on the wild cart ride, going back up to the rooms the goblins had provided.

~~***~~

Phineas Nigellus Black had always been proud of the Slytherin upbringing he’d had and of the fact that he was one of the few Headmasters who were part of the Slytherin house in their school tenure.

When he heard what the Headmaster was planning for the Potter boy, all his focus was on not letting his outage and disgust show. When the Headmaster had lifted the enchantments off the other portraits and paintings, he’d left the his portrait as soon he was certain that nothing would make the Headmaster suspicious of him.

Going to the Grimmauld Palace portrait was out of question as it would not be beneficial, as he would see the same people involved in the meeting held by the Headmaster. He could only keep his temper in check for so long. He needed to talk to someone who would want to keep the boy safe, truly safe. Even if it meant betraying the “light” side and going “dark”.

For now, he went to his portrait in the Black Heir vault. He had specifically asked to put up a portrait of his in those vaults so he could keep an eye on the future heirs and guide them when needed. Till date, one Heir had made him truly proud and he was now half mad Azkaban escapee what with Dumbledore’s planning and plotting ways.

When he entered the portrait, it was pitch black and it felt to him as if the whole thing was floating. Now that would only happen if the portrait was being kept in something with an expansion charm on it.

The former headmaster waited to see who had thought it prudent to move his portrait from the vault.

~~***~~

_Sirius Black was sitting in a pub, waiting for someone. Not that he had ever imagined that he would even be talking to the man he was currently waiting for._

_Lily had requested him to talk to the man, she wanted him to meet his godson. And Sirius was not happy with that. Lily had chosen another godfather on top of both her and James asking him and Remus to be the godfathers to the boy._

_He didn’t know what was going through her head when Lily had decided on asking him to talk to the man and bring him to their hide out. But she was Lily and he could never say no to her, not after how she had made them realise the wrongs of their ways, lifting the blinds they had on because of the blatant favouritism Dumbledore showed them. They had apologised to all but one who they made prey to their pranks, if they could be called that. This one man, he gave back as good as he got. He earned their grudging respect and blind hatred. But Sirius knew he was in the wrong with how he sent the man to his death, almost. Now he owed a life debt to James, both him and the man. And that debt was heavy. They had treated him worse and worse, isolating him, breaking apart his only friendship and that may have lead him to the dark path he had taken._

_Sirius did not know how he would convince the man of his clean intentions now, that he would visit Lily. But he would try his hardest, for both Lily and his godson. Merlin forbid, he might even apologise to the man._

_No sooner had that thought crossed his mind, he saw the man he was waiting for. Severus Snape, the guy who gave back as good as he got, the man who held his respect even now. After all, wading the dark when the most cruel Dark Lord in the history was wreaking havoc was a feat on its own._

_The man’s blank look turned into a sneer as soon as he realised it was Sirius who was waiting for him._

_“To what do I owe this pleasure, Black?” He seethed. “Should I keep an eye out for your partner, out dear Potter, to jump out and dangle me by my ankles again? Using my own inventions against me, how pathetic could you get?”_

_Sirius knew this would be what he’d face when he met up with the man. Taking a deep breath he said, “Lily wants to meet you Snape. I came here just to take you to her, that’s it.”_

_At that Severus’ sneer turned into a snarl almost. “You think you can fool me with that, Black?” he growled lowly. “Lily sent me a letter at the end of our seventh year. She asked me to never contact her again, and sent back all the letters I had sent her, unopened. Now, why would I believe you when you say she wants to meet me?”_

_Severus turned to go out, leaving Sirius to scramble after him. He caught up with the man outside the pub. Grasping at his arm, he said, “She wants you to meet her son, your… our godson.”_

_Severus stood stock still at that._

_“Now I don’t know about any letters or anything, Snape. But Lily specifically asked me to bring you with me to meet her and the baby. So you need to come with me, because she said otherwise you’ll be breaking promise you made to Rose.” He continued._

_Sirius saw Severus’ shoulder almost hunch over when he said that. The man took a deep shuddering breath and turned to him. If he was someone else, Sirius would have thought he saw something akin to hope in his eyes when he said, “Take me to them.”_

_They turned to a darkened alley and apparated away with a crack._

~*~

_Another crack announced the arrival of the two men in a grove near Godric’s Hollow._

_Sirius sent off his Grim patronus ahead of them. Both men started walking towards their destination, with Sirius in the lead. In a few moments’ walk, they saw what was a small church for all intents and purposes. Sirius lead the way in, and there Severus saw someone he had lost all hope of ever seeing._

_Lily Potter, and in her arms was the baby he was godfather to. She was smiling that wonderful smile of hers, which made all his pain fade away without fail._

_“Lily.” He whispered. His feet taking him towards her on their own._

_“Thank you , Sirius. I’ll meet you outside.” She said._

_Sirius was about to protest, but something in her expression stopped him from doing so. He nodded and went to stand near the doors, not ready leave her and his godson alone with the slimy git. Lily gave him an exasperated smile._

_“Severus.” She said. “I am glad you agreed to visit. I want you to meet your godson, Harry.”_

_Severus forced his eyes away from her face to that of the child sleeping in her arms. The boy had a round face, chubby, a tuft of black hair escaping the hat his mother had stuck on his head to protect him from the December cold. His fingers curled to form little fists. He ran the tip of his finger down one of the boy’s cheek, wondering at its soft skin. He abruptly pulled back his hand._

_“Why?” he asked. “Why now? After you returned all my letters unopened, asked me not to contact you? Is this a prank? Should I be worrying about you turning into one of them?” he pointed harshly towards Sirius._

_“No, Severus! I don’t know what letters you are talking about. I never got any from you, and if I tried sending you any, they never reached you. Hell, at times the owls would be so bloody confused they’d sit on my window sill and not leave, looking at me as if I was mad or something.” Lily said. “This is not a prank Severus. I just wanted Harry to meet his mother’s first and best friend from the wizarding world. I could not contact you, I tried. That is why I asked Sirius to do it for me.”_

_Severus looked confused at what Lily was saying. She would not lie, not about something like this._

_“So then who sent me that letter? Who got all my letters and returned them to me unopened, with a message from you to end all contact?” he asked, too disturbed by this discovery._

_“We will figure it out Severus. Right now, hold your godson. He is the reason we have met again. Please, hold him.” Lily pleaded._

_Severus swallowed the lump in his throat, and hesitantly reached out for the baby. Carefully, Harry was transferred from one set of arms to the other. As if sensing the change in the person holding him, the little boy woke up. Fussing, he opened his eyes, his green as emeralds eyes locked onto Severus’ face. The boy then with uncoordinated flailing arms, took hold of the strand of hair that had fallen over Severus’ face and hung over him, and he tugged at it. His eyes went round with wonder as he tried to fit it in his mouth but could not. Lips forming a pout, the baby kept his fist closed around that strand of hair._

_Severus and Lily shared a smile over his head, while Sirius looked on at the scene. Two childhood friends, sharing a moment after so long._

~*~

Sirius’ eyes shot open, he was in his room in the Gringott’s healing area. His breath was ragged as if he’d just run up the numerous stairs of Hogwarts.

But he had seen something, a memory. That meant the goblin treatment was working. Soon enough he should have all the erased memories back, recollect all that he had lost.

“Sirius?”

He was broken out of his reverie by someone calling his name. Looking up, he saw Remus standing at the door of his room.

“Remus? How did you find me?” he asked, astonished.

“I just followed my heart.” The werewolf replied, smiling softly.

Sirius barked out a laugh.

~~***~~

Fred and George Prewett were sitting in the Property Department of the Gringott’s bank. They had brought the Triwizard winnings that Eugene had so unapologetically given to them without a second thought. They were waiting for the department’s head goblin Gondore so that they could find out about what all options they had regards to opening their own joke shop in Diagon Alley. If they could get something there, it would be quite lucrative for their business, for they were sure they would do well.

The door to the office was thrown open suddenly with violent force, making the twins jump in their seats. A man stood there, his face contorted and nose flaring as if he was sniffing around for something, or someone. His hair were black with steel grey bands dispersed throughout. His eyes shone with an animalistic glow. He was tall, standing at a height of 6’5”, his tan skin contrasting with the grey muggle suit he was wearing with a white shirt underneath. He zeroed in on the twins, his eyes sharp and nose flaring.

The twins looked at each other, neither of them knew the man, so why was he so focussed on them? Suddenly the man tackled them off their seats, twisting mid-air so that they fell on him as they fell to the floor. His grip was tight on their napes, he was actually sniffing at them. They noticed the man was growling low in his throat, continuously.

“Mate.” He said, sniffing at George. Then he shoved his nose under Fred’s jaw, “Mate.” He repeated.

The twins looked at each other in utter bewilderment.

~*~

Greyback had been on his way to the main hall of Gringotts’ when he caught a scent which brought his instincts to alert. He went after it, realising after a moment that he was following two different scents, and in that instant he knew he was following his mates’ scent. His wolf went mad with joy, urging him to go faster. The goblins moved away from his path as he went rushing, his eyes glowing as the wolf fought to surface. He stopped before a door, the scent was the strongest there.

He threw open the door, and there they were. Two of them, both of them, twins, and he leapt.

So now here he was, sitting with the twins on his lap. The young men were tall, but he managed. He had yet to say anything to them, but he wanted to savour the closeness while he could. After all, they will just run as soon as they know who he is. That thought made him press the boys closer to him, inhaling deeply. His wolf was in heaven, rumbling in his mind, enjoying the scent and closeness of their mates.

“So… not that we mind sitting in the lap of a gorgeous man such as yourself.” The twin on his right said, smiling sheepishly when he looked at him.  
  
“But we would like to know what exactly is going on here.” continued the twin on his left, a similar expression on his face.

Greyback chuckled lowly, breathing in the scents of his mates one more ti,/pme, he stood up, helping the twins along. He sat them back in their seats and begun pacing.

“I am a werewolf, and it is a closely guarded secret of ours that we have a mate or mates in some cases. We bond with them for life. At times it so happens, that our mate are not other werewolves but humans or wizards or even other creatures.”

He saw the young men looking at him in thinly veiled curiosity and apprehension. He rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb as he trudged on. “Our mates are our anchor, our sanity, our humanity if you will. Even when they are werewolf or any other creature, they ground us, make us stronger. It is like finding something that you never knew was missing. But, when you do find it, it is like everything is complete.”

Now the twins had gobsmacked expressions, wide eyes and slacked jaws. Sighing he closed his eyes, rubbing at them he said, “What I am trying to say, is that for all these years, I have been alone, slowly assimilating to the fact that I might not have a mate. But here you are two of you. You are my mates, and I have never felt so fortunate, so happy, ever in my life.”

He opened his eyes to look at the twins again, they looked apprehensive and confused. He on the other hand, felt scared but dared to hope as he said, “Also.” Here he took a deep breath, his heart near bursting out his chest with how fast it was beating.

“I am Fenrir Greyback, Alpha of the Greyback Pack, Lord of the Olde House of Greyback.”

~*~

Fred’s throat clicked as he swallowed dryly, face pale. He turned to his brother. George was sitting still as a statue, his eyes locked on Greyback and expression of fear on his face. It was like he wanted to talk, but was scared that would not be conducive to the situation. Which was justified, as they were face to face with the horror stories their mother told them when they were young.

‘He looks more scared than us at the moment.’ Fred thought to himself. He placed his hand on his brother’s to catch his attention, who blinked as he turned to look at him. Fred raised an inquiring eyebrow, to which George raised both of his in surprise and fear.

“The past few days have shown us that all is not what it seems.” Fred said to his brother. “Maybe it’s the same with him?”

“But he is Alpha Greyback, Freddie!” George exclaimed.

“Right now, he looks like any other man, waiting for rejection.” Fred whispered. “Look at him Georgie, he’s more terrified of us rejecting him than we are of him attacking us.”

George turned his eyes back to the Alpha, he did look like a man waiting for the other shoe to drop. Though he stood tall, his shoulders back, spine ramrod straight, his eyes revealed what he was feeling. The man was scared, scared that the twins would reject him. That he would know all his life about is mates, but could never have them, never live his life with them.

And that made all the breath stuck in his lungs leave with an audible noise. He looked back at Fred, and nodded, a tiny smile on his face.

They both stood up as one and Greyback stiffened up even more. They walked up to him, slowly reaching out to take a hand of his each in theirs.

“We’d like to give this mate thing a chance, but we can’t promise anything.” Fred spoke.

“It would be something of an adventure. Do keep in mind that we are only seventeen and we might be a bit much at times.” George continued.

Greyback couldn’t hold himself back any longer. Using the hold the boys had on him, he pulled them both close to himself, hugging them tight.

“Here you are.” The werewolf sighed, his face buried in their hair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for being away for so long guys. i have no reason, no excuse for that. but i am back and i will continue writing this fic. thanks for all the comments and kudos you have left me over the past year. they always kept me going. i will try and update regularly from now on and write more and longer chapters than i did before. i want to see this fic to its end. so that i can write more. 
> 
> hope you all like this chapter. i will be posting more soon. leave me your thoughts in the comments and show me your love through kudos. thanks for taking the time to read. 
> 
> all mistakes are mine and i make no profit out of this. just writing for fun.
> 
> until next time.  
> see ya when i see ya.


	22. Chapter 22

A new day dawned on the wizarding world. But, for Draco it was the same old, his Basilisk egg was still unhatched. The ethereal blue pheasant had brought the toad to hatch the egg under, but so far, nothing had happened. It remained as it was, no changes of any sort. He wracked his head for anything he might have missed. The scarf he put around it as a makeshift nest, was charmed to keep warm all the time, the toad and he egg were never separated, not even moved. So what was he missing, he often thought.

The last time he had asked the Dark…no, he’d been asked to call him Tom now. So when he’d asked Tom for help, the man had lost himself to his madness. Though he may not be prone to it anymore, Draco had developed a reasonable fear of asking the man about the egg. So who could he ask?  
‘Eugene!’ he thought. ‘Maybe the boy could help him research about hatching a basilisk egg?’

With that in mind, the blonde went to look for Eugene, a skip in his step.

~~***~~

Eugene upended the three bags he’d taken from his heirship vaults, sifting through the books one by one. He’d fallen asleep yesterday, too tired from his magic adjusting to all his inheritances and then the trips to his vaults were in no way relaxing. So when he’d come to his room, he’d all but fallen onto his bed, falling asleep before his head even hit the pillow.

The goblins had provided them with new rooms after they had recovered from their ritualistic healings. Only Sirius held a room in their Healing Ward. Eugene hoped he’d be able to return favour when had a standing of his own and all this Dumbledore mess was over.

But right now, he wanted to look through his books and find out what all they held. A knock on his door, brought his attention away from them yet again. He saw his parents standing at the door, waiting.

Smiling, he said, “Hey, come in. I was just looking through these books I brought up from the heir vaults”

Tom and Severus were happy to see Eugene happy. The memories that had resurfaced had only helped them realise how much they loved the boy and each other. They hoped all would be cleared up soon and that they would be able to live happily and peacefully with their son.

Walking up to the boy, they saw numerous books scattered on his bed and only books. That made their eyebrows rise, both of them a bit taken aback, especially Severus as he’d never seen the boy even with a single book.

The boy…their son, Severus corrected himself, went towards where he had hung up his robes, pulling out some trinkets from within one of the robes’ pockets. He brought them back to where they were standing.

He looked a bit shy and hesitant. Slowly, he gave Severus a brooch, shaped like a cauldron, dripping with protective magicks.

“I found this in the Prince Heir vault, sir. It reminded me of you.”, the boy said.

Severus looked at him, wide-eyed, his son, who was giving him a part of his inheritance, an important one.

“This used to belong to my mother.” The dour man said, rubbing his thumb over the brooch, his eyes misting over. “She had to sell it, when we didn’t have money for food. It broke her heart, selling the only thing she had of her lineage, taken when she ran off from her home. How did it get in the vault?”

Eugene shrugged, “I just found it there, and thought of you.”

Severus looked at him, his hand went up to the boy’s head, ruffling his hair a bit, “Thank you, Eugene.” He said, smiling softly at his son.

That had surprised Eugene, but he was happy to have given his papa something so priceless. And to think he’d simply picked the brooch up for its look and magick. He smiled at him, turning to his father next, he presented him with the silver bracelet.

“I found this in the Slytherin heir vault, sir.” He said. “I hope you like it.”

Tom smiled at him, taking the silver ornament, felt similar protective enchantments on it, as he did on the brooch.

“Thank you, it is a wonderful gift Eugene. I am happy you thought of me.” He slipped it onto his arm, the bracelet resized to sit snugly on his forearm, near his elbow. Severus too had affixed the brooch on his robes, he knew that brooch will now always be a part of his robes, be it work or leisure or any other occasion.

Eugene was happy, he kept the locket back in his pocket, though not before Tom noticed it.

“What’s that Eugene?” he asked.

The boy took the locket out again and gave it to the man to look at it.

“It’s a locket, well, more like a miniature album I found in the Black heir vault. I thought I could put in photos in it, keep it with me.” He explained.

Tom opened up the locket, muttering a spell under his breath, he pointed his wand at it, a small smile on his face as he gave it back.

“I hope, you like this.” He said, showing the two pictures he’d magicked into the locket, of himself and Severus.

Eugene beamed at him with joy when he saw that. “I like it. Thanks Father!” he exclaimed, going red as he realised what he’d just said.

Tom felt his heart skip a beat when Eugene called him father. Seeing the boy blush, he smiled at him, knowing if he’d push the matter, his son would only clam up.

“I’m glad you do.” He said instead. “now you’ll have us with you, wherever you go.”

Smiling and relieved that his father did not push for what he’d said, Eugene turned back to his books, putting the locket around his neck. The rooms provided by the goblins had simple furniture, and Eugene liked the bookshelf the best. Gathering his books, he started shelving them vault-wise and then subject-wise.

He kept the books on the middle three shelves, leaving the bottom most and the top most shelf empty. The parseltongue books from the Slytherin heir vault took up almost all of a shelf, he kept the parsel-potion books from the Prince heir vault with them. The other potions’ books and the Prince grimmoires were on the shelf below that. The books on the Animagi and Metamorphmagi training were on the last shelf, and the only ones there. Eugene hoped to add more to it, maybe he could start a collection. ‘That would be interesting,’ he thought. ‘All the books he could get his hands on, read them, keep them to read later, actually own them for once.’ The boy had a tiny smile on his face.

The last thing left on his bed was the portrait he’d taken from the Black vault, its familiarity still bothering him. He picked it up, bringing the face of the man in it to his eye level.

Tom and Severus had looked on as their son carefully kept his books on the shelf. Seeing the portrait made their curiosity rise, so they moved closer to their boy.

“Headmaster Black?” both the men spoke up simultaneously.

~~***~~

Phineas knew he had wanted to talk to someone who would save the boy from the machinations of the Headmaster. But he never had inn his wildest imaginations, ever expected to find his portrait in the hands of the boy himself. Sure, his looks might have changed a bit, but he’d seen the boy in the current Headmaster’s office many a times. He would recognise the lad anywhere. But just to be sure, “Harry Potter. You are Harry Potter, aren’t you?” he asked.

The boy jumped up when he spoke and went pale as he realised what had been asked. Come to think of it, the two men behind him were former students too, and one of them was the runaway potions’ master. The other was very familiar, and a look at those eyes told him who exactly he was.

The chuckle that left Phineas’ painted mouth was as dark as they came.

“Well isn’t this interesting.” Phineas chortled. “The Golden Boy and the Dark Lord, together and not locked in a duel.”

Eugene was shocked silent, seeing that, Phineas said, “No need to be alarmed Mr. Potter, I have been wanting to speak to you, and seeing as you are peacefully sharing space with the Dark Lord, this might go easily.”

“It’s Snape-Riddle, actually.” Eugene said hollowly.

Phineas’ eyebrows climbed up his forehead, “Well, well, this is an interesting development. It only makes it even more urgent that we speak of what I’ve found out, or overheard to be more precise.”

The former headmaster was hiding his surprise and glee very well. Two men, who were, or are the epitome of what it means to be a Slytherin, had a child together.

“Mr. Snape-Riddle, it is best I tell you all I know, before my absence in the other portrait is noticed.” He said.

“Alright, sir.” Eugene said, still in a daze. “But, I would like a few people with us before we continue.”

“Very well.” The headmaster sighed. “Do be quick.” He said as Eugene went out the room’

~~***~~

The twins were looking for Eugene, they wanted him to be the first to know about the important development in their lives. Fenrir had agreed to let them go, on the condition that while they may tell his family about their bond, he was going to make preparations for them to stay with him. That even though they might not share a room, he would like for them to at least share a living space with him. The twins had agreed to it, stating a counter-condition for their ‘living space’ not be some lavish manor or villa in some forest, they wanted a small house or cottage they could share with the alpha.

When the twins saw Eugene, stumbling out of his room, pale faced, they were concerned as to what had made their brother lose his colour so. Rushing up to the boy in worry, the twins forgot all about the matter they were there for.

“What is it Eugene?” Fred asked.

“What has you so worried?” George inquired.

Eugene looked at the young men, startled out of his stupor.

“Hey guys.. I.. I um.. found this portrait.. in the Black vaults, and the.. the man.. wants to.. to talk to us.” He said.

“Portrait?”

“Man?”

The twins aid, simultaneously.

“Yeah, and he.. he knew who I am.. I.. I was..” Eugene wheezed. “Guys… I .. I can’t b-breathe.”

The boy slid down, his knees going weak, unable to hold him up. The twins followed to soften his landing.

“Hey, hey Eugene!” George spoke sharply, trying to gain his attention.

“Take a deep breath.” He said, bringing the boys hand to his own chest. “Follow my breathing, Eugene. There’s a good lad.” He took deep, slow breaths, hoping the boy would copy him.

Fred looked at them worriedly, a hand on Eugene’s back. The boy was copying George’s breathing, his own breath coming in short, broken gasps. It took a few minutes for Eugene to get his breathing under control.

“What was that?” he asked. “why couldn’t I breathe?”

“It was a panic attack.” George explained. “The man recognising you might have made you anxious, and sometimes it can cause you to have panic attacks. It’s ok though, many people get them, and you’re not the only one.”

George smiled at him softly, he knew the boy would get worked up over the panic attack being ‘not normal’. Sometimes he wanted to strangle those muggle relatives of Eugene’s.

“Well I am glad you knew how to handle that Gred.” Fred sighed. “I wouldn’t have known what to do.”

George simply nodded. “Come on, let’s get the others. You can tell us what’s all this about on the way.”

The twins helped Eugene stand and off they went to find Draco and Sirius.

~~***~~

Sirius had been very upfront with Remus about how he felt about Dumbledore, his suspicions about the man. The werewolf had looked guilty at that, so he asked, “What do you know Remus?”

“I think it’s better if Harry is here too for that talk.” The werewolf deflected.

And that made Sirius feel apprehensive about his friend, something that he had only felt when the Dark Lord was at large, and everybody was a suspect Death Eater.

Before he could he say anything, Eugene and the twins entered the room. The trio stopped short when they saw Remus, apprehension clear on their faces. Eugene was surprised, “Remus?” he said, “What are you doing here?” the question left his lips unbidden.

It startled Remus, who had his back to them. Turning, he saw them standing at the door, as if stupefied.

“Harry?” he choked out, he could recognise the smell of his cub anywhere.  
“What happened to you? The Headmaster told us that you had been de-aged!” the werewolf exclaimed. “He said Severus stole you away and had taken you to the Dark Lord?”

“Is that what he’s been saying Professor Lupin?” George said, his eyes full of contempt. “There are a lot of other things he should be explaining, rather than spouting this drivel.”

“Calm down, Georgie. I, for one, want to know how did he find Sirius? And, why is he here instead of being out with the others.” Fred spoke, though he was barely hiding his own anger.

Remus stared at the twins, wide-eyed. Then blinking rapidly, he tried to collect his thoughts, clearing his throat, he said, “There’s something you need to know Harry. It would be better if you all took a seat, it’s a long story.”

“Wait.” Eugene said. “That’s what I am here for. You need to come with me. I found this portrait of a man in the Black Heir vaults, the man wants to talk to us. You should come too, Remus. But you have to promise, you’ll listen before you act. Please, you have to promise me.” He beseeched the werewolf, hoping he’d agree.

Remus could only nod, seeing how the boy was behaving. And boy, those were some puppy eyes, he snorted internally. “I promise, Harry.”

“It’s Eugene, actually.” the boy said. “But I’ll tell you about that later. Right now, you and Sirius should come with me… us.”

Remus nodded again, blinking at the rapid speed Eugene spoke in. He helped Sirius get up from his bed, he’d just taken his medication, and it tended to make him feel dizzy and unbalanced for some time.

The group of four walked slowly, to accommodate Sirius, towards Eugene’s room, where three people waited for them.

~~***~~

Draco reached Eugene’s room and saw that the boy was not there, though Tom and Severus were. They seemed to be talking to a portrait. He thought it prudent to wait outside, also, Tom scared him.

He saw Eugene and the twins come along the Healing Ward’s corridor, Sirius and Professor Lupin following them. And by the looks on their faces, this was not a happy party.

Draco felt apprehension settle in his heart, worried about Eugene, wondering what this was all about. Straightening up from where he was leaning against the wall, he put his arm around Eugene as they neared him at the entrance to the boy’s room. The younger boy gave him a small smile at his gesture.

Entering the room, they saw that Tom and Severus had set up the portrait on one of the walls. They had conjured up chairs for themselves and a few extra. As they sat down, they noticed that Remus was still standing by the door, staring wide eyed at Tom and Severus.

“Sit down, Remus.” Sirius said. “”There are some things you should know before you share your information with us.”

“Also, it would explain the situation to me.” The portrait of Phineas Black spoke up.

So Eugene, along with the help of the others, told Remus and Phineas all that had happened over the past few days. Remus sat there in shock, his expressions changing from bewildered to worry to disgust in turns, as it all was unravelled before him. Tearing apart a family, erasing memories, playing with lives, the Headmaster only seemed to look out for his own good rather than the ‘greater good’ theory he kept spouting everywhere he went.

“This explains the things he’s been planning for you Mr. Snape-Riddle.” Phineas Black said into the silence that had enveloped the group.

“What things, Headmaster Black?” Tom asked, he didn’t want his son anywhere near the current Headmaster, he didn’t want him in England for that matter. May be they all could move to a different country altogether.

“Yes, that is why I wanted to find you Sirius.” Remus, jumped up. “The Headmaster is planning things, bad thing, and we need to stop him.”

“We, Lupin?” Severus said scathingly.

“Yes, Severus, we, and there is nothing you can do about it. Eugene is as good as a cub of my own. No one messes with my cub and gets away with it.” The werewolf growled lowly.

Severus scoffed at that.

“Speaking of finding Sirius, how exactly did you manage that?” Tom inquired, one eyebrow pointedly going up. “As far as we know, you might have been sent to spy on us.”

“I only came here to find Sirius, so that he could be warned about what the Headmaster was planning in regards to h…Eugene. As for how I found him, I would like to talk to Sirius in private about that before I tell it to anyone of you.” Remus said.

Tom nodded, feeling the urgency in the werewolf’s tone. “Very well.” He said. “But you tell us, all of us, as soon as you’re done talking to Sirius. And it should be before sundown tomorrow.”

Remus nodded his acquiescence, all the while looking at Sirius who in turn was looking back at him.

“Well then.” One of the twins said. “If all this is done, we need to borrow our dear brother for a while, we have something we too want to share, but not before we share it with Eugene.” with that, the twins frog-marched Eugene out of the room.

Draco looked at the elders left in the room. “Well, I should go..check what they are up to.” And he too rushed out of the room, trying to follow and keep up with the twins and Eugene. He really needed to talk to his friend.

The elder wizards were left staring at their retreating backs. The talk of Dumbledore’s planning left alone, for now. Headmaster Phineas was not going to let it be for long, right now, he had to go back to his Headmaster’ room portrait.

~*~

Fred and George locked their room, shoving Eugene in, but not before Draco slid in after them. The twins started muttering among themselves, not for long as Eugene interrupted them, “What is it guys? What did you need to tell me before all the others?”

“Well, dear brother..” Fred begun.

“That is to say Eugene…” George mumbled.

“Oh speak up guys. What is it?” Draco snapped, impatient.

The twins took a deep breath. “Fenrir Greyback is our mate.” They said, simultaneously.

“What?!” Draco squeaked, not that he would ever accept that. “Mate!”

They nodded. “Well, we are his mates, to be technical.”

Eugene just stood there, shell shocked.

“Say something Eugene.” Fred pleaded.

“Yeah, you’re scaring us to be honest.” George winced when Fred elbowed him.

“Well what do you expect? You just told us you’re the mates of Fenrir Greyback!” Draco explained, his breath rasping.

“How do you know?” Eugene asked.

Startled by his sudden question, the twins jumped in their places.

“He told us.” George said blithely.

“Yeah, we were waiting in one of the goblin offices and he came out of nowhere, hugging us, holding us close, calling us mates. We were scared I tell you, but the guy was pretty docile compared to the image he has made up.” Fred said.

George nodded along. “Yeah, he told us all about mates of werewolves while he was at it. He seemed scared we would reject him.”

“We thought we should give him a chance.” Fred mumbled.

“What?!?” Eugene and Draco shouted.

“I know it’s crazy Eugene, Draco. But the guy was pretty well-behaved, he is even ready to let us tell you about the mate bond alone, rather than coming along with us.” Fred implored. “It’s scary for us too, but we saw his face Eugene. The guy was bloody scared we would reject him just because of his name.”

“But he’s Fenrir Greyback!” Draco nearly screamed.

“And they are Fred and George Prewett.” Eugene interrupted. “And if anyone would be able to take on Fenrir Greyback as mates, it would be the two of them. Face it draco, we should be more worried about Greyback rather than these two menaces.”

The twins looked at Eugene, their jaws dropped open.

“Oh the words Georgie!” Fred exclaimed. “The words kill me!”

“I am afraid I am no better Freddy.” George lamented. “Our dear young brother, speaking such words, oh how hurtful!”

The two boys dropped to the ground. “He doesn’t care!” they said and begun crying, leaning on each other.

Eugene laughed at their antics, knowing the both of them would keep Greyback on his toes if they kept at it like this.

Draco huffed and crossed his arms across his chest, a small smirk on his lips. Turning to Eugene he asked, “While they continue their rather boring act, could you help me research about my basilisk egg? I am total loss what to do with it.”

“Sure, I got some parsel-tongue books from the Slytherin vault. May be we will find something in those.” Eugene smiled supportively at his friend.

The twins had picked up themselves from the floor and dusted off. 

“Let’s go back and share out news then Gene-kins.” They said.

The twins took hand of one boy each as they dragged them back to the room they had just rushed out from.

~~***~~

Shieldback looked at the ledgers spread on his desk, the inconsistencies had been too many to ignore. The investigation of those had led to information which he wasn’t sure the father-son trio would like to hear.

There was misappropriation of money, illegal transfers, heirlooms, ornaments and books were missing from the vaults. The Head Goblin Manager did not understand how all this had happened right under their noses. The goblins had strict policies to prevent such things from happening. He did not know how he was going to keep the wizard from losing their temper and blaming the goblins. After all, the items and money were taken from their bank, it was supposed to be the safest place in the wizarding world.

Speaking of, the goblin at his door informed him about their guest wizards wishing to meet with him, they were waiting just outside the door. Nodding his head in assent, he motioned for the goblin to send them in.

‘Best get this over with sooner rather than later.’ He thought to himself.

One after the other, the wizards entered the room, led by Lords Slytherin and Prince. Their son, Lord Peverell following along with Heir Malfoy. The twin Lords Prewett behind them and Lord Black bringing up the rear, with a werewolf.

‘Probably Lupin’ mused Shieldback. ‘He’s the only werewolf seen with the Lord Black.’ He often thought about what made the werewolf stick so close to a wizard, rather than joining a pack. Even after said wizard had been in prison for over a decade.

When all of them were seated, Shieldback begun, “It is quite fortunate that all of you came here, Lords and Heir.” Here the goblin hesitated.

“We have some things we need to share, Shieldback.” Tom said. “Certain actions of the headmaster have come to light, which all of us believe should also be shared with the goblin nation, in case any thing happens to us.”

Shieldback looked at them, sighing internally, he nodded. “Very well, then I believe we should move this meeting to Our King.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here you go guys. hope you liked this one too. 
> 
> i know you want to know what dumbledore talked about in the meeting. soon dear readers, very soon. i just need to decide how devious i want the guy to be. 
> 
> leave me your thoughts through comments or kudos.
> 
> all mistakes are mine.
> 
> xoxo


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i thought i had uploaded this before i went for my trip... i am so sorry guys.. my brain is fried....

Shieldback took the group of wizards through the winding halls of the bank to the deepest parts. They came to a corridor but it had no doors on either side, just the one at the end of it. The double door was carved from two logs of wood. Their thick borders were carved with scenes depicting the various wars the goblins had fought. In the centre of each door, a goblin warrior in full armour was carved out, hands crossed over his sword, hilt side up.

Shieldback knocked on the door and waited. After a moment or two, the door opened on its own, silently. Inside, the group of wizards saw the grimmest, the oldest looking goblin they had laid eyes on. He sat behind an ornate desk, carved from the same kind of wood as the doors, though the desk was carved with scenes of goblins during peace times, inventing and creating. A few chairs were set in front of the desk, the old goblin snapped his fingers and a few more chairs popped in front of his desk.

“Your Majesty, Goblin King, Ragthore.” Shieldback announced. “Shieldback, Head Goblin Manager, at your service. These are, Lord Slytherin, Lord Prince, their son Lord Peverell, the twin Lords Prewett, Lord Black, Heir Malfoy and Mr. Lupin.” The goblin gestured to them as he spoke their names, the wizards bowing as they were introduced to the king.

At King Ragthore’s gesture, they all took a seat in the chairs set out.

“What news have you, Shieldback?” King Ragthore asked, his voice low like the growl of a dragon.

“Your Majesty has been apprised of the situation till date. Now, there have been some new developments, some of which the wizards have been made aware of. They have come here on my behest to share what they have discovered.”

“Your Majesty, I am Tom Marvolo Riddle, introduced as Lord Slytherin. It is an honour to be in your presence, sire. My son, Eugene, found a portrait in the Black Heir vault, which he found to be familiar looking, and so brought it up along with him. This portrait was of the former Heeadmaster Phineas Nigellus Black, who had some rather disturbing news for us. Then we found Mr. Lupin here with Lord Black, who too had come to warn us of Dumbledore’s plans.”

Here Remus picked up, he said, “Your Majesty, Remus Lupin at your service. Yesterday evening, Dumbledore called for a meeting of like-minded individuals, as he likes to call it, also known as the Order of Pheonix. Now, at all of the members were called for the meeting, only those he considers loyal to him.”

“And why are you amongst those he counts as loyal? What role do you play Mr. Lupin?” King Ragthore asked.

“I am considered loyal due to the fact that I feel discriminated against for the reason of my lycanthropy. He gave me a chance to complete my education and gave me a teaching job.” Remus replied. “But, he harmed my cub, and nothing is more important to a wolf than their pack, especially cubs, and he tore my pack apart. Now that I am getting pieces of it back, I am not going to let them be snatched away again. The old coot has toyed with them and harmed them enough, not anymore.” By the amber glow in his eyes, it was evident that his wolf counterpart was overwhelming his speech.

The King nodded in understanding, he knew how creature-kind felt about children. They were treated like treasures, especially werewolves, whose conceiving problems came hand in hand with their lunar cycle transformations.

“Go on.” He said. “What happened in the meeting?”

“At first, Dumbledore asked the usual questions.” Remus resumed. “Whether there were any suspicious activities in the Ministry? Or if there was any indication as to what the dark Lord was planning? He also stated that Snape had de-aged Eugene to take him to the Dark Lord. When he was done with that, he started giving us our usual tasks, so to speak.”

Here he stopped to take a breath and a sip of water from the glass Eugene had conjured for him, he gave the boy a small smile, who smiled back at him.

“Doge and Diggle were asked to keep an eye out in the Ministry, for anything suspicious. Mungdungus, or Dung, is to keep his ears open for anything fishy in the worse parts of wizarding world. Tonks and Kingsley prepare a number of Aurors, ready for action, hand-picked by Dumbledore himself. Moody was told to keep in touch with his old contacts, ask around again for more information. I was, as always, tasked with getting in contact with any werewolf packs who were estranged or want to get away from Greyback. I am supposed to be doing that right now, as a matter of fact. Hagrid, was asked to find and contact the Giants.”

He wiped a hand over his face, though he had already once recounted it, doing it again was proving as difficult as the first time. Phineas Black had helped too, but he had to go back before he was missed in his portrait in the school.

There were moments he wished he had never been in the meeting, but he consoled himself that if he had not been there, there would be no one warning Eugene of the situation right now. He took a deep breath and trudged on through his retelling.

“The ones left without any tasks were Molly, Ron, Hermione and Ginny. Here Tonks and Kingsley left as they were facing pressure from the higher-ups in the Ministry, regarding the fact that they were absent so often due to Order meetings and business. Doge and Diggle followed them, as they were facing similar situation. Dung had sneaked out some time after he was told what to do, that man is slippery as an eel. Dumbledore sent Hagrid off, so that he could start on tracking the giants. Now, the only ones left in the Headmaster’s office were Molly, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Moody and I.”

He took a pause to sip at his water and continued, “He asked Hermione about the research he’d asked her to conduct, when she told him of her lack of results, he asked her to keep looking. He also asked her, Ron and Ginny to send letters with tracker spells on them to Eugene, so that they could track those to him. Then they were asked to wait outside and so were Moody and I. But, I felt this apprehension in my heart, so as we went outside, I dropped one of the Twin’s inventions, an extendable ear and attached the listening end of it to my ear. What I heard, only turned my apprehension to dread.”

His hands were shaking now. He felt someone take away the glass he was holding and take a hold of his shaking hand. He took a deep shuddering breath, “He asked Molly if Ron had acted out again after his incident. Turns out, they have Ron dosed up to his eyeballs with personality altering potions. He broke free of them once or twice in the past year due to the excess stress of Eugene being in the Triwizard Tournament. Molly told him that she had increased the strength of the potions, and no problems had surfaced after that. She spoke about her concerns with Hermione being left un-dosed. But Dumbledore appeased her saying that the girl trusted blindly in authority figures, and for her they could do no wrong, and so she would never turn her back to them.”

He looked up from where he was staring at his and Sirius’ hands, towards the King. “Your Majesty, Dumbledore has been planning to give the same personality altering potions they were giving to Ron, to Eugene. He wants to turn my cub… into this mindless drone… that he can control. He... he has this… uhm… marriage contract drawn up for Eugene and Ginny. He was… was going to get them both sign it as soon as Ginny of age.” He felt Sirius’ hand tighten around his.

“He didn’t want those guardian signed contracts, said they were too tricky and could turn very ugly, very fast. He… he also has some knowledge about Tom’s horcruxes. He wanted Eugene to find them and destroy them. He also knows that Eugene is… was one of them, and because of that, he wanted my cub to walk to his own death. He had this theory, that when Tom as he was, killed Eugene, he would destroy his horcrux. Then he could rise like a hero and kill Tom, gaining the respect of the wizarding world like he did when he helped imprison Grindelwald. He had this back-up plan of sorts, in case Eugene survived, seeing as he already had survived the killing curse once. He planned on binding Eugene’s magic after making him and Tom fight one on one, and kill him, making it look like his magic had overloaded.”

“What’s worse is”, he gulped. “What’s worse is, that Molly has basically brainwashed Ginny since an early age that she is to marry Eugene and become the Boy-Who-Lived’s wife. Only Dumbledore and Molly know about the extents of their plans. Molly has even Arthur hopped up on potions, so that he won’t look closely on her actions and be suspicious about anything. By then I had to hide away the ear as Hermione and Moody were looking at me pointedly and suspiciously.”

“Headmaster Black told us, that after that the two talked about how the plan of killing Severus off in a potion’s accident had gone down the drain. He wanted my husband dead because he was of Dark nature and because he felt that keeping Severus alive too long would bring about problems sooner rather than later.” Tom took back the conversation from Remus. “He also informed us that Dumbledore holds all the cards to the plan, even Molly doesn’t know everything about his plans. The rest of them are pawns ready to be used by Dumbledore for his own benefit.”

“Dumbledore has always turned away abused students, Your Majesty.” Severus spoke up. “Most of them died of abuse meted on them by their parents or relatives and some committed suicide. But Dumbledore covered them all up. You might have heard of the practice of exorcism, some ways of it are inhumane to extent of torture. The person being exorcised is often subjected to forced fasting and are at times tied down the whole time, some are even left locked up in a room without food or water. Muggles consider magick to be an act of the devil. Tom and I had found solace in each other and Dumbledore ruined that by erasing our memories and taking away our child. And he did all this because of a prophecy made in front of him, which held words of his downfall.”

“What prophecy do you talk about?” the King intercepted.

“Your Majesty, the prophecy was first brought to our attention when I was visited by mother’s spirit when I was de-aged, after which I regained my proper age. It went something like this.

_The one with the power to vanquish the Dark one arises,_  
Born to the misunderstood and the misery.  
The one with the power of balance,  
Born as the fifth month dies.  
He will bring upheaval,  
Lady Magick healed anew. 

This is the reason he went after me, I was the child born as the fifth month dies.” Eugene said. “Sire, we want nothing more than to stop these machinations of Dumbledore and hopefully give him a taste of his own medicine. We only wish that the goblin nation would be willing to aid us in that venture. He has already torn apart families and played people like pawns.”

King Ragthore leaned back in his chair, elbows on the arm-rests and fingers steepled together. The prophecy had struck a memory deep in his mind. He looked at the group of wizards sitting in front of him, especially the young Lord Peverell. The boy was a powerhouse of magic, holding an important place in the wizarding world, not that he was aware of it.

Shieldback cleared his throat, “There is more, Your Majesty.” At that, even the wizards turned to the goblin, who sighed.

“We found discrepancies in the accounts of Lord Peverell after we went through them for a preliminary check. Further investigation showed that the discrepancies started when Dumbledore made himself the Magical Guardian of Lord Peverell. He illegally transferred money to his personal accounts, to the accounts of one Molly Weasley since July 1991, to Hermione Granger since 1992 and one goblin Hammertooth since 1980.” He gave copies of his reports to the King and the others in the room.

“Dumbledore also sold heirlooms, took them for his personal use, all illegally. He gave the books from the Potter Heir vault to Hermione Granger, which included the personal collection of the late Lord and Lady Potter. He left only money in the vault and no items, most of which were personal in nature and left by the Potters to be passed on to their son.”

“Could they be recovered, all the books and the items and the heirlooms?” Eugene inquired. “I don’t care much about the money, I just want what is rightly mine to be restored.”

“If magick can find it and it has not been destroyed or used for malicious intents and purposes, it will go back to your vaults. Others will appear to you, so that you may mend them, for you are their Lord for all intents and purposes.” It was King Ragthore who replied. “Say the words, as I say them. I, state your name, request Lady Magick to help find all that has been stolen from me, return the wholesome to their vaults and bring me the damned. So I say, so mote it be.”

It took a few tries for Eugene to get the hang of it, for he had to state all his titles as he was considered an adult by magick, and stating all his titles was a task in itself. Being Lord Eugene Erasmus Snape-Riddle- Potter- Evanström- Gryffindor- Ravenclaw- Hufflepuff- Peverell- Emrys- LeFay, Heir to Black, Prince and Slytherin, was no easy task to tackle.

When he had spoken the last word of the request, a bright light flashed from his lordship ring. And then, a ring, a locket, a diadem and a cup presented themselves at the desk directly in front of him. Tom recognised those items. “Those were the containers for the pieces of my soul, the horcruxes. That is why they are here. They were tainted by the magick that creates them, it is the vilest sort. I would have never performed those acts of heinousness if it was not for that meddling old coot and his obliviating ways.”

“Dumbledore and Mrs. Weasley seem more vile by the minute. No offence, guys.” Draco said, turning to the twins.

“We always knew she was one card short of a full deck.” They shrugged it off.

Meanwhile, Eugene picked the items one by one, repeating the new words taught to him by King Ragthore. “I, Eugene, do hereby accept these items as my own as they are no longer being used for unintended purposes, but have been restored. So I say, so mote it be.”

Shieldback, then brought back everybody’ attention to the still missing money and what they could do to bring it back to their rightful accounts. This time, the twins had an idea.

“You could give the reason of faults in a different account as a reason for bank-wide audit, as it has never happened before and you never want it repeated.” One of them suggested.

“This way, no one will get suspicious, namely Dumbledore and our mother.” The other reasoned.

“The idea does hold merit.” King Ragthore said. “Shieldback, look into it and see what can be done. And bring me Hammertooth, it is time he faced the consequences of his actions.”

“It will be done, Your Majesty.”

“While we are here, I would like to ask for permission to bring my parents into the fold.” Draco spoke up. “After all, they are Eugene’s godparents.”

“They will be, young Heir Malfoy, but only after they have gone through a purge. In fact, Mr. Lupin, I believe you haven’t had a purge either.” King Ragthore said.

Draco acquiesced, “I could write to them to come here at the earliest possible time.”

Sheildback simply gave him a piece of parchment and a never-end quill. When Draco was done with his missive, he pressed his heir ring and muttered something under his breath. He folded the parchment up and gave it back to Sheildback who was holding his hand out to take it, then he simply snapped his fingers, making the parchment disappear.

“Your parents shall be sending a reply soon enough Heir Malfoy. You best get ready to receive them.”

With that the wizards took their leave from King Ragthore’s office. Sheildback remained to converse some more with him.

~~***~~

Fenrir Greyback had just finished his meeting with the Properties Office Goblin Gonlarc. He had taken his mates seriously when they said they wanted a small living space and not some lavish mansion. He knew the Greyback manor was out of question from the get go. To maintain his image, he had let the knowledge about the mansion fade into obscurity. His pack still used the manor, though they left the elders and children to stay in the manor when they had to go away for ‘recreational purposes’, as he liked to call his ventures to help along his image.

The property goblin had been helpful in finding some listings which met all their needs. There were some he preferred over the others for the reason of the greenery around them. So the werewolf went looking for his mates. He found them walking out of one of the darker corridors of the bank. And along with them were several other people, they all seemed to be in a very sombre mood, and seeing his mates in such a state, pulled at something inside of him. He walked over to the group, his wolf demanding he cheers up the twins. Both the boys rushed up to him when they noticed the alpha walking over, and the wolf pulled them into his arms.

“Hey, big guy.” Fred said.

“Hey yourself. Where have you been? And what’s with the serious faces?”

“There have been some revelations.” George sighed. “Some of our family is involved. We don’t know how to react to that, so we are acting as we normally do. Joking around, don’t know what we’ll do once it all sinks in.”

“All that aside, we would like you to meet the better portions of what we call our family.”

With that, the two of them pulled the alpha towards the group of wizards, who’d been looking at the three of them from where they stood, waiting for the twins.

“Greyback!” Remus exclaimed, his wand slipping into his hand as he pointed it towards the werewolf.

Greyback held his hands up, palms facing out. “Cub, its not what you think.” He spoke calmly.

“You turned me, you took my life away from me, my own parents were disgusted by me.” Remus growled, eyes shining with unshed tears, eyes glowing amber, his wand now pointing at the Alpha’s chest.

“It was a rogue, that bit you that night. Not me, cub.”

“That is a fat wad of lies and you know it!”

Suddenly, both Tom and Eugene were standing between the two, their backs to the alpha werewolf.

“Remus, I know you are angry, but you need to listen to him.”

“Mr. Lupin, calm down, think rationally, you are standing in the goblins’ home. Calm down.”

It was then, that Remus noticed the goblin guards, who had surrounded their group and were herding the other bank goblins away from them.

Slowly, he lowered his wand, still tense and not letting his gaze drop from Fenrir’s face.

“So, now is not a good time to tell you that we’re his mates?” Fred blurted.

“Moony, no!”

~*~

They were all in the rooms provided to the twins. Fenrir sat on one of the beds, a bruise on his jaw. Remus paced near the door, growling lowly all the while.

They had been ushered to the room after Remus had punched the alpha. The wolf had lost control as soon as he comprehended what Fred had said. He had jumped past the two wizards standing in front of him and landed a fist square on the alpha’s jaw. The goblin guards had pulled him off of Fenrir, after Tom had stupefied the enraged wolf.

Then all of them had been escorted by the same goblin guards to the nearest room, which happened to be the twins’ with two goblins standing guard at the door, outside the room.

Fred and George were sitting with the alpha, bracketing him, both holding onto his hand, fingers entwined. Remus growled more when he looked at them. And though his inner wolf wanted to submit, the man was too stubborn to bow right now, especially to Fenrir. So he kept his distance and kept growling.

“You should hear them out, Moony.” Eugene said, leaning on the wall near the door. Remus hadn’t let him or Sirius anywhere inside the room except for letting them enter it.

The werewolf growled louder on hearing that. “Honestly, Moony!” an exasperated Eugene exclaimed. “You have seen first-hand how wrong we’ve been about everything! Can’t you just listen to what Greyback has to say?”

Remus looked at his cub, he knew he was right, but the hatred he’d always held for Greyback was blinding. The wolf in him, Moony, he thought, whined at him, projecting its need to listen to their cub, try and understand what he was saying. So Remus gave a curt nod, knowing his rage would only make this more difficult, and the longer he held onto it, the harder it will be to see straight.

“Fine, but I reserve judgement.”

Eugene pointedly looked at the twins and Greyback, who nodded at him.

“Let me begin by saying that it was not me who bit you, cub.” Greyback began. “I had a twin, Felix, who felt jaded that he was born human while I was a werewolf. At least, that is what I think the reason was. He was fine one day and the next he tried to kill me in my sleep. He was there when a rogue werewolf turned you, so was I. After I killed the rogue, he attacked me. But, he’s my brother, I love him, so I evaded him. I believe someone got to him, manipulated him and turned him against his own family. I believe he is the reason for my infamous image.”

Greyback stood up and walked over to Remus, his hand going to the younger wolf’s shoulder, who growled, “Your wolf bonded with mine when I saved you from that rogue. I have always kept an eye on you, cub.” He rested his hand on Remus’ shoulder.

“I hated how they treated you, your parents. You have nothing to be ashamed of, you are my brave cub. You survived the rogue, you survived your parents’ fear, the discrimination, the full moon transformations without a pack. You formed your own pack. You’ve been strong for so long, Remus. Let me be strong for you now, lean on me, I’ll never let you down. I promise.”

Remus’ growls had stopped now, he had stepped closer to the alpha. With an animalistic whine, his head dropped on Greyback’s shoulder, who in turn wrapped his arms around the younger wolf.

Soon, everyone was brought up to speed on the twins’ and Greyback’s mate bond situation. The revelation made Sirius grab Remus and pull him out of the room, relieving the goblin guards outside, the situation now stable.

Fenrir was told about what they had discovered. He promised Eugene he’d keep an eye and an ear out for any news or even a hint of news regarding Dumbledore’s actions, in his circle.

“Speaking of, I found a few properties I like, and I thought we could go over them together, finalize something we all like.” Greyback said.

“Yeah? What if we told you that we already have one in sight?” George said.

“Then I would like to see what my mates like, but I would also request you to go through the properties I have shortlisted.” Greyback smiled.

“That sounds good. Come on, wolfman, show us the dens you’ve chosen.” Fred teased, a lop-sided grin on his face.

Fenrir chuckled, “Let’s go look at those properties.” He lead the twins out, his hands on their backs, one twin on each side.

“We should look at some properties too.” Tom spoke up.. “We can’t always stay with the goblins.”

“I.. Well, we, have loads of properties to pick from.” Eugene piped up. “We could look through them, pick up one that suits us all too.”

Severus smiled at him. “Let’s do that.”

“Draco, you should check if there has been any reply from your parents.” Tom turned to the blonde teen.

Draco simply nodded and followed the three of them out.

~~***~~

Sirius had dragged Remus to his healing ward, and now he was pacing. Remus, on the other hand, sat hunched over in the only chair in the room.

“I’m your mate, aren’t I?”

Remus nodded sheepishly, looking at the other man through his fingers, elbows on knees.

“Why didn’t you ever tell me?” Sirius gesticulated hysterically. “Were you ever going to tell me?”

“I didn’t know how to, and then the whole thing with the prophecy fell on us. And James and Lily died, and Harry was hidden away by Dumbledore. And before all of that, I was scared, I mean, you know what my home situation was, and who would want to be the mate of a werewolf?”

Sirius knelt in front of Remus, he cupped the wolf’s cheek, thumb rubbing his cheekbone.

“I have loved you since the day I met you Remus. The shy boy I met on the train, the shoulder I cried on after I got my Mother’s howler about my sorting. You forgave me, for nearly getting Snape killed by your hands. Remus, I would have been honoured to be the mate of a werewolf like you. One who is so compassionate, so kind-hearted, so gentle. You made me right my wrongs, Remus. You have always been my voice of reason.” Sirius rested his forehead on Remus’. “I love you, Remus. And I am honoured, that I am your mate.”

~~***~~

Lucius Malfoy was not an easily rattled man, after all, one does not become the right hand man of the most vicious Dark Lord to ever emerge and survive the fall-out of his supposed death. So yes, Lord Malfoy was a very resourceful and slippery man, it came with the job.

So when he received a letter from his son, who for all intents and purposes should be in school, in his goblin correspondence box, he was surprised. The contents of the letter were even more mind-boggling, though the seriousness of the letter was disclosed in the way he addressed himself. Dragon, his son never used that nick name since the incident of his cousin teasing him for it. But, he knew they still referred to him like that in their private conversations. So he did what his son had requested him to do in the letter. But first, he needed to find his wife, so they both could go to the bank, where their son was.

~*~

Lord and Lady Malfoy were always seen as stoic and cold-hearted people. But those close to them, who were very few in number, knew that the couple were more warm-hearted than most and that they loved Draco more than anything. Those same people would also say that they might have spoiled their son a tad too much. And only Severus could dare to say that, being their son’s godfather, he knew them intimately.

As soon as the Malfoys stepped into the bank, one of the goblins, who was waiting specifically for them, ushered them to one of the waiting rooms where their son was already seated. As soon as the door was shut, the couple rushed to embrace their son.

“Draco.” Narcissa exhaled. “Your letter was very cryptic. What is the matter? And, why are you not in school?”

“It’ll all be explained soon, mum. We just need to wait for a few people to get here.”

Lucius remained silent. He’d never seen his son so serious, not even when he was determined to be Harry Potter’s best friend forever and ever. So he waited patiently for the people his son wished for them to meet.

Soon the door opened, letting in three wizards, two of whom they recognised instantly. Lucius’ heart skipped a beat.

“It’s alright, Lucius.” The teal-eyed man said. “Things are not as they seem. And I hope we can clear everything up for you.”

From there on, it was a flurry of information dump, and the Malfoys were scheduled for purge rituals, to get them free of any outside influences, if any, that they might be under.

The trio of Snape-Riddles was waiting for them outside their ritual chambers, as Draco paced the width of the corridor. The discussion about everything had been calm, though Eugene had seen a hint of disbelief in Lucius’ eyes he hoped the rituals did not show anything extensive, but given their history with his parents, he was not entirely positive that would be the case.

The couple was soon out of the chambers, and Narcissa instantly turned her attention towards Eugene, her eyes welling up. She gathered the teen into her arms, hugging him tight.

“Oh! Eugene! You poor boy. I am so sorry, my darling. Oh! dear child, your poor heart. Oh! I could wring that old bastard’s neck!” she almost growled.

“It’s been all cleared up. We were obliviated and dosed, just like you were.” Lucius stated. “We can safely say that anyone who knew about the two of you might have been manipulated in one way or another. And, we can also say that this is all Dumbledore’s doing.”

Eugene turned his face into Narcissa’s shoulder, his arms went around her. There was no sound, but the way she tightened her hold on the teen and the way his shoulders were shaking, they knew that it had upset him.

“I believe I speak for all of us, when I say that the old coot needs to pay for his actions.” Lucius said, his eyes blazing with anger.

Tom and Severus nodded at the blonde Lord, equally enraged, and heartbroken, at how their child was so affected by it all. The Headmaster was going to pay, but not before they annihilated his reputation and took away the respect he was given by the general public, something he held so dear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you enjoyed the chapter.. more will be up in a day or two... i have finished writing it and will be typing it out now.. leave me your views in your comments
> 
> i live for the kudos and comments..
> 
> xoxo
> 
> until next time..


	24. Chapter 24

Neville Longbottom had always felt inferior compared to his peers. The unconventional ways his family had tried to determine whether he had magick or not, had only made his timid nature worse. He had never felt close to anyone in his family or his peers. Coming to Hogwarts, he’d thought of all the ways his life would improve, but he’d been ridiculed the same way he always was.

That was until he joined the D.A. He counted his decision of joining the D.A. as one of the best things he could’ve done for himself. There he’d found the friendship and acceptance in Harry and Luna. Even if Harry kept getting dragged away by Ron and Hermione, he felt he had a friend in him. He’d been feeling very much at ease with himself for quite some time now.

He gathered up his books and waved goodbye to Luna as he left the library. Harry’s disappearance had left him confused, and guilty. He knew his botched up potion must have caused Harry some harm. He wanted to apologise to Harry for that, but he was gone before he could do anything.

He reached the Griffindor common room soon and pulled out his list of passwords t check what the current one was. He’d learned from his mistake in third year and had stuck his lists to the inside of his bag after a few botched up tries, where he’d stuck his fingers to the bag rather than the parchment to the bag.

“Chivalrous Red.” Neville intoned the password and the Fat Lady’s portrait swung open to reveal the Griffindor common room. He stuck the passwords list back in his bag, hitching it up by the strap, his thick Herbology book almost slipping out of his hands. He spotted an empty table near one of the fireplaces and rushed to keep his things there before they all fell and he would be yet again made fun of.

He barely made it to the table as his bag strap finally slipped off his shoulder. He dumped all of it before he could trip and fall all over his things. Breathing a sigh of relief, he started sorting it all out; his bag was a big mess. Maybe he could ask someone to help him put an extension charm and also a lightweight charm on his bag, that way he wouldn’t fall over so much, and his things would actually fit into his bag.

In his wonderings, he missed his wand rolling of the table and only when it hit the stone floor with a clack, did he realise that it had fallen. He crouched down, crawling under the table to get a decent grip on it when he felt a pop in his ears.

A whole corner of the common room had been warded off, charmed to be invisible and imperceptible to sight and hearing. There around a table, sat Hermione Granger, Ron and Ginny Weasley. Neville froze as he heard what they were talking about.

“He’ll be back soon, Ginny. Professor Dumbledore will get him, don’t worry.” Hermione was saying.

“But it’s already been a week since Snape ran off with him. How can we be sure that he hasn’t been turned Dark? The dungeon bat can’t be trusted, not after the way he secreted away my Harry!” Ginny exclaimed hysterically.

“It’s Harry, Ginny. You know he’d never turn his back on us, not with the way he has been conditioned.” Hermione tried to reason with the young girl.

“Oh, shut it!” Ron grumbled. “You slags don’t care about him at all. All you’re worried about is how much money and fame you’ll get and how many books and artefacts you can get your hands on.”

“Ronald, you know better than to say things like that.” Ginny growled lowly. It surprised Neville how animalistic she sounded, even more surprising was Ron’s reaction to it, who tried to make himself look small by hunching over his shoulders, a meek ‘sorry’ leaving his lips. Ginny huffed and turned back to Hermione, continuing their discussion. “I understand that you want to think positively here, Hermione. But you have to take into consideration that there is a chance Snape might have turned my Harry dark, taking advantage of his conditioning! What then? How will we get Harry to kill off that snake-face dark lord?”

“I understand your concern Ginny. But, the Headmaster has given us tasks of our own, and we need to take care of them. And, have faith in him, that he’ll get back Harry, as he was.” Hermione tried to calm her down.

Ginny only huffed again, looking at her brother still hunched over in his seat and rolled her eyes at him. Hermione then started on her own research regarding the Founder’s familiars, she was getting nowhere with that. Not even a mention of a Founder walking around with any sort of anima was made. She was starting to lose hope that she wouldn’t ever find anything. But she held on with the hopes of getting her hands on the Potter and Black libraries, which might hold some information in them. After all, they were the largest libraries second to the Malfoys, who still were adding to their own. Sometimes she wished the Headmaster could somehow gain her access to that library too. There could never be enough books in one’s possession, she believed. 

By then, Neville had heard all that there was to be heard. He dragged himself back the same way he’d fallen. He needed to talk to someone, Luna, tell her what was going on, maybe they could come up with a way to contact Professor Snape. He stuffed all his belongings back in his bag and rushed out of the common room, as if the hounds of hell were after him. He rushed back to the library, so he could catch Luna before she left for the Ravenclaw Tower. This time, he didn’t care about his spilling and slipping bag, he had a destination in mind and friend to help out.

He left behind two unaware and one watchful pair of eyes.

~~***~~

Goblin Hammertooth had lived a life full of luxury, thanks to one Albus Dumbledore. The goblin had deviated from the principles he had been taught since he was but a little goblin child, sitting in his mother’s lap. What he had done, would not only bring shame to his name, but to his family too.

The aforesaid goblin sat comfortably in his cushy leather-backed chair, in his Potter provided Account Manager Office. His door was thrown open and dual lines of goblin guards entered his office, thinking it to be an important customer being given to him to take care of, the goblin straightened up, his mind already working on how he could swindle him into collecting more money for himself.

But what, or who came into his office was the King’s official announcer with a scroll in his hand. Now, he thought he was in for some special promotion or something of the sort, a wild glint came to his eyes, an anticipation of what he was getting. What he heard though, was the stuff of his nightmares.

“Goblin Hammertooth, by the order of our King, you are hereby under arrest for conspiring to steal from a bank customer, breaking the foremost principle of our bank’s policy, besmirching the name of goblins by joining hands with the declared enemy of the kingdom and misleading an heir and future lord and illegally dipping into his vault you are also accused of helping the declared enemy with stealing from said heir and future lord. You will be brought before His Highness to be tried for the aforementioned crimes. Comply or you shall have to bear the consequences of resisting arrest.”

Hammertooth sat stock still in his chair as the announcer read out the missive. Never in his life had he thought that he would be caught, the old wizard had tied all lose ends, he’d said there would never be anything to worry about as all the major factors had been torn apart from each other and nothing would or could bring them together. So what had happened that he was beig accused of the same crimes and being summoned in front of the King himself. What had he done? he thought to himself, all the guilt crushing on him all of a sudden. He didn’t dare resist the guards, who put him in shackles and formed a ring around him as they herded him to the King’s courtroom.

The goblin cursed the day he had met the old conniving wizard, he rued the moment he had agreed to help him in hiding the true extent of Harry Potter’s inheritance and blamed his own greed at doing what he did. In a daze, he did not realise that they had reached their destination. As the doors to the room opened, he saw that along with the King, there were a few faces he never would have expected to see together in one place. He knew at that moment, that he was doomed, but he took pleasure in the fact that the old coot would not be far behind.

As the hearing begun, Hammertooth readied himself, for he knew he would get nothing less than exile or worse, death.

~~***~~

Dumbledore sat in his office high up the tower, unaware of the proceedings in the goblin bank. He was yet again trying, unsuccessfully, to locate the whereabouts of Severus and Harry. As he vanished his recent failed try, an official Gringotts’ owl flew in through the open window, dropping a letter on his desk and turned back to leave out the same window.

The letter was sealed with blue wax and the insignia of a shield with a hammer and pick-axe crossed were pressed into it. He recognised it to be Hammertooth’s and tore open the letter.

_Dumbledore,_

_I am writing this letter to inform you that an in-descrepancy in a different account has led to a bank-wide audit. If you are contacted regarding this, do not panic, and comply with the officials. Though this action will call back all the possessions and artefacts and return them to their original vaults, do not worry. I will take care of things once this is over._

_Goblin Hammertooth_

The first line had brought a shadow of worry across the Headmaster’s face, but as he continued on, he felt somewhat relieved. The words regarding the officials worried him, but he would do as the goblin suggested. That should get them off his back soon.

Still he was worried about the whole calling back the artefacts, so he took off, he needed to check on his precious collections. He reached out a hand towards the stand where Fawkes usually rested, when he realised he hadn’t seen the bird in days. Shrugging off the disappearance as the bird going away for its burning day for once in his life, the Headmaster made his way down to go all the way out the main gates of the castle. Blasted bird, just had to have a burning day now.

Soon the old wizard was outside the gates and apparated to an empty field. He walked towards a small rock formation, which reached up to his waist. He ran a hand over it as he crossed past it and a small cottage came into view. Opening the door, he entered the cottage which looked more like a huge library from the inside. There were large cabinets all around the hall like space. And there were artefacts surely missing from them.

He made his way to one particular cabinet, at the very centre of all the cabinets. Looking through it, he found the few of his prized items which were most important to his plans, to be missing a low growl left his throat.

“That goblin better get me all my things back.” He said to himself. “Or I am going to make it very difficult for him to hold a quill ever again.”

~~***~~

Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy had spent the past few hours catching up with their son and the new found information on Eugene formerly known as Harry Potter. Then they had all been witness to Goblin Hammertooth’s trial and how efficiently, ruthlessly and quickly the Goblin King dealt with the matter. The goblin was awaiting his final sentencing, which would be done after they had brought down Dumbledore, till then, he was a tool to be used to keep Dumbledore out of their way for as long as they could.

 

Now they sat with the newly united family and Lucius was doing what he did best, strategizing.

“We know that we need to bring down Dumbledore’s name before we can bury the man compeletely. We need to prove that under Dumbledore’s Headmastership, many wrongs have been done and many children have been lost or led astray by his actions. His manipulating ways have to be revealed for what they are. His grandfatherly persona is just a mask he uses to get his way. We know what we need to do, and now we need to decide how we are going to go about it?” Lucius looked at all present there in the room.

The Malfoy Lord had ideas, but he needed help too, and he was not ashamed of asking for that. And he knew, this group of people sitting right in front of him would be the best people to plan this with. With that, he started explaining his ideas to the group.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i lost the chapters i wrote, so m writing them back up by memory. hope you like what i have written. leave me your feedback in comments and kudos. it feeds my muse. xoxo


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